This Memorial Day, remember the Afghanistan withdrawal
On Memorial Day, we remember and pay tribute to the fallen. Yet, the concept of honor appears to be largely anachronistic in modern society. Nowhere in recent memory has the disregard for honor been more noticeable than among the senior military leadership involved in the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
Despite claims that this event was an “extraordinary success,” many saw it for what it really was: a dismal failure. We now know that senior officers were aware during the planning of the operation of its manifestly ill-advised nature, and afterward none acknowledged responsibility for this self-inflicted fiasco.
While this is old news, during the first meeting of the new Trump administration Cabinet on Feb. 26, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a full review of the Afghanistan withdrawal and the conduct of those involved. Whatever the results of this review may be, they ought to be understood within …