![An Afghan man in Kabul.](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/us-afghanistan-withdrawal-taliban-03262024.jpg?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
Congressional hearings on the Biden administration’s controversial withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 have become a renewed focal point for political narratives about blame. But they also create an opportunity to consider counterfactual hypothetical scenarios that could expand our understanding of the U.S failure in Afghanistan.