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Afghanistan has fallen, for the second time, to a brutal band of Islamist fundamentalists with medieval views about how people should be governed. That’s a tragedy for Afghans who want to live in the modern world — including many girls and women, ethnic and religious minorities, educated professionals, journalists and civic activists, as well as those who worked with the United States and our allies to establish a capable national government.
That long, costly experiment in nation building has collapsed with sickening speed, and bitter recriminations fill the air. No wonder, given the thousands of U.S. and allied troops killed or wounded, and the $2 trillion taxpayers poured into a noble if losing cause.
But amid all the facile finger-pointing and instant historical revisionism, let’s try to keep three basic facts in mind.
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