, Columnist
After Afghanistan, Biden Shouldn’t Abandon Iraq Too
Preserving a military presence in the country is crucial to the American national interest.
More decisions await.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP
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As Afghans grapple with fear and uncertainty in the wake of the U.S. military pullout from their country, Iraqis are beginning to wonder if it will be their turn next.
The Biden administration, doubling and tripling down on the president’s defense of his Afghanistan withdrawal, has been deploying Washington’s current catchphrase, “forever wars,” as well as invoking old shibboleths about the “national interest.” Pursuing the latter, so the theory goes, requires ending the former.