THERE IS NO AFGHANISTAN:

It's starting to look as though President Joe Biden really does want to leave Afghanistan. In his speech today, Biden didn't concede that he has blundered in ordering a pullout. On the contrary, he doubled down. The result was the most forceful, impassioned and persuasive speech of his young presidency.

In essence Biden embraced the original Rumsfeld doctrine -- conduct limited counter-terrorism strikes but don't get stuck nation-building. Adopting a different course was the original sin of the George W. Bush administration, which became bogged down in Afghanistan as it prepared for war in Iraq.

Now Biden is finally issuing a course correction. Any notion that Biden is senescent, a puppet of his advisers, or just plain loopy should be dispelled by his steely performance. Biden embraced his inner realist.

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