Our Defeat In Afghanistan Is Only The Beginning

As the post-9/11 chapter closes, a new one begins, marked above all by the end of American deterrence and the eclipse of American power.

Our total defeat and ignominious, disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan, after 20 years of war and nation-building, closes a chapter on post-9/11 America — and opens another.

What comes next is to some extent uncertain, but you don’t need to be a grand strategist to see the broad outlines of what is already taking shape.

First and most obvious, Afghanistan will revert to being a terrorist haven....