Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post: “Refusing to remain in Afghanistan for a 21st or 22nd year does not throw doubt on our commitment to, for example, defend Europe from Russia or to counter Chinese aggression against our allies in Asia. Our return to the world stage depends on our willingness to deploy the full array of soft and hard power, including by reengaging international institutions. It is worth noting that 14 years after the fall of Saigon, it was the West – not communism – that was triumphant in Europe. In sum, Biden gave the best speech under the circumstances. He was not defensive. He literally said that the ‘buck stops with me.'”
“The public will reward him if the withdrawal does not lead to a repeat of 9/11. And they will forgive him the chaos if he gets thousands of innocents out of the Taliban hellhole. The urge to wrap up 20 years of ill-conceived war in a thread of recriminations and to project certainty decades into the future is misguided, especially coming from those who got so little right for so long. Is a little humility and patience too much to ask? Perhaps it is, which might explain why our politics falls so tragically short of what the times demand.”