The Bottom Line

The US is leaving Afghanistan, but what is it leaving behind?

After 20 years of direct intervention, Washington decides that the future of Afghanistan is for its people to decide.

The United States leaves Afghanistan as the Taliban seem to be retaking control of the entire country, city by city.

So what becomes of the government that Washington propped up and the military that it trained?

Andrew Bacevich, president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a retired colonel in the US Army, tells host Steve Clemons that Washington was blinded by its imperialistic notions that Afghanistan was in dire need of American intervention. And Afghanistan analyst Hashim Wahdatyar warns that Pakistan’s alliance with the Taliban does not bode well for the future of the region.