Possibly this was knowable ahead of time; I recommend the book “88 days to Kandahar”. Written by an ex-CIA guy, so a broker in lies and mirages (as well as, perhaps, a decent and well-meaning guy). The general feel of the book is that a long-drawn war is unwinnable, that as soon as Americans quit, Taliban will be back.<p>But this, and hindsight, aside, is there another take on this? That there was a hope in the US political circles that, although the war perhaps should not have been started, or that post 9/11 there was no choice but to start one, but once it was going there was a hope for a better, new Afghanistan? That yea, it’s a slog, many will die and much money will be spent, but the end looks better than the start?<p>Maybe I’m naive but I’d like to think it was naive idealism that propelled the war (maybe not started) rather than outright cynical Machiavellism.<p>From today’s perspective, clearly we know the war was an expensive failure. But hindsight is everything. And the lucid impressions of a soldier on the ground may not be a complete picture.