Afghanistan’s fall may trigger other dominoes

Small dominoes can eventually topple big nations. The Taliban started tipping dominoes in local provinces and before long had most of Afghanistan under its control. Kabul was merely the last domino to fall.

The last domino in Afghanistan that is, certainly not the last around the globe.

The aftershocks of the failed U.S. withdrawal will reverberate for some time. If the U.S. should lose its historic mantle of supporting peace through strength, we will have to reckon with the consequences of chaos that results from perceived weakness.

In the midst of the most recent chaos, President Joe Biden defended his decision for troop withdrawal, missing the point entirely. Making decisions is easy. Executing on decisions takes planning and hard work. The president defends his decision because he can’t defend its execution.

The resultant tragedies are evident. First and foremost are the service men and women who gave their lives over 20 years to build something that took two weeks to destroy. Many Utahns gave their last full measure on that soil. More lives will be lost as U.S. allies are left behind. Women and girls will bear the brunt over the long term as one of the most brutal regimes in modern history returns to power.

It is hard to imagine there are winners in this tragedy, but sadly there are. China, Iran and Pakistan just witnessed America abandoning the most vulnerable, and our geo-political adversaries have witnessed an opening they can exploit.