Mohey Mowafy, Journal op-ed contributor

It is not an easy task to express my thoughts and feelings about our recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, even as we all knew it was coming sooner or later.

Feelings of fear for our future on the world stage, anger about some mistakes that could have been easily avoided, deep disappointment in those who are turning the calamitous situation into bipartisan useless banter, and shame for leaving behind us those who basically fought by our side to twist in the wind.

Just about a month before the 20th anniversary of the Al Qaeda-plotted terrorist attack on 9-11-2001, we witnessed a complete withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan.

It is not the first time an American President made such a decision. President Regan withdrew our forces from Lebanon after a massive terrorist attack on our marines. President Trump ordered withdrawal of our troops in Syria (Oct. 16, 2019), also left our Kurds partners suddenly exposed and abandoned.

Sometimes, withdrawal is not cowardly. In fact, sometimes, in an all things considered approach, it can be best option. Our withdrawal from Afghanistan now, is our best option. Of course, there will be consequences, and of course there will be “celebration images” by the Taliban, and some of their fans on almost every continent. My hope, however, is that we proceed going forward, but more methodically. We were certainly stunned by the stunning speed with which the Taliban entered Kabul, and the president fled. Let’s prevent getting stunned again.

President Biden initially supported the invasion but changed his mind as the war settled into a stalemate, while efforts to establish a functioning elected government repeatedly and miserably failed. In his address to the nation, Biden said, “One more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country, and an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me.” At the outset, I do agree that even 20 more years of staying there will not change a thing.

Some, of course, disagree. Naturally, mostly republicans. Indeed, there are things to criticize, but the last thing we should do is cram this mammoth development, on a global stage, into a tiny box of political banter.

It is true that Afghan security forces’ wholesale collapse has been in the making for years. It is, however, not totally fair to label them all as cowards who do not care about their country.

The capitulation was sped up by a series of secret deals the Taliban made with many government officials. Plus, of course, the bribes and cleaver-but-misleading promises.

We should have predicted that. The Biden administration was caught unprepared by the velocity of the Taliban takeover. The “bottom line” is this: Afghan forces proved incapable of defending their country and we did what we needed to do but in a rather clumsy way.

There are many repercussions that will endure long after the U.S. withdrawal. First, as Robin Wright suggests, is accepting that jihadism has won a key battle against democracy.

It should be clear that defeating a hardline ideology with a strong local following is not a minor detail. The Taliban are likely, once again, to install Sharia as law of the land. Very likely, Afghanistan will, once again, a home for like-minded marauders.

Both Afghanistan and Iraq have proven that the United States can neither build nations nor create armies out of scratch, especially in countries that have a limited middle class and low education rates.

And, honestly, I do not believe that any other nation can. It takes generations, not just one. And, in a country like Afghanistan, ethnic and sectarian divisions thwart attempts to overhaul political, social, and economic life all at the same time.

The United States spent $83 billion training and arming an Afghan force of some three hundred thousand–more than four times the size of the Taliban’s militia. It may take us years until we find out how such a disaster evolved. It may take longer to regain our status.

Irrespective of all disagreements about where we are and where to go from here, there is one undebatable issue. We absolutely must honor our commitment to all the Afghanis who took the risk of working with us.

Not only to protect our reputation, but because it is the only right thing to do now.

Editor’s note: Mohey Mowafy is a retired Northern Michigan University professor who resides in the Marquette area.