At its outset in 2001, the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan had near-unanimous public support. The initial goals were straightforward and clear: defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off course and U.S. officials lost sight of their objectives.

Distracted by the war in Iraq, the U.S. military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. But no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. Instead, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations sent more and more troops to Afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory.

Craig Whitlock is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post and the author of #1 New York Times bestselling book, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War (Simon & Schuster: 2021).