No doubt it was time to go. Biden will get a lot of grief for how the exit was handled--largely but not exclusively from people who delight in any excuse to give him grief--but it was definitely time.

Of course the service and the sacrifices were not meaningless. We did some good, had a positive impact on millions of lives. We may have even planted seeds that will grow into an indigenous resistance to Islamic extremism and misogyny.

But the cost was very high, not only in trashing our own economy but also in the blood spilled, lives and homes destroyed.

Modern warfare is not like what is glorified in films. Over 80% of the casualties are non-combatants. Women. Children. Bombs and bullets do not care, and drone-delivered death cares even less. It has to stop.

But we must learn from Afghanistan the lessons we refused to learn from Vietnam. We must find a way to fix the things we break. And we must for once take responsibility for the walking wounded who return from fighting this, our longest war. They deserve far better than what we have shown our veterans up to this point.