How did the US war in Afghanistan end? To judge by recent commentary and reporting, the Trump administration has ginned up the idea of a rapid drawdown before November as an election-year ploy, a sudden decision driven more by domestic politics than by the situation in Afghanistan. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the U.S. war in Afghanistan has been ending for years, has more or less ended now, and has done so for good reason. The removal of the last tranche of U.S. soldiers is neither the sudden nor the decisive reckoning it is suggested to be.
