Internally displaced Afghans from northern provinces, who fled their homes due to fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, wait to receive free food in a public park in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 10, 2021 (AP photo by Rahmat Gul).

From the moment President Joe Biden announced in April that the United States would withdraw all its military forces from Afghanistan within a few months, the level of violence there intensified, negotiations sputtered and the prospects for the Afghan people—especially Afghan women—became grim. The seeming rashness of the decision and lack of planning to handle obvious major contingencies were serious missteps for a president that has so far made mostly thoughtful, carefully calibrated moves. This is not to suggest that U.S. forces should stay in Afghanistan forever. To be sure, Afghanistan is the land of no easy solutions, and Biden […]