So it has come full circle. What started as an operation to eradicate al-Qaeda has ended two decades later with the return of its Afghan enablers to power. Rarely have so many lives and so much cash been spent on so little.

It would be nice to think that US politics will learn from this debacle – and both parties are complicit. But the story is far from over. America may have quit this “forever war”, but it will go on. There will be little time for post-mortems as we come to grips with the implications of a rebooted Taliban.

Financial Times