Afghanistan has been well and truly been dumped. The US has made it abundantly clear that it is bored of committing to Kabul and will hit-and-run by September. Yet instead of recriminations — President Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the Council of National Reconciliation, are readying to jet over to the White House to discuss the end of the affair. It almost beggars belief that this will be Ghani and Biden’s first face-to-face. This speaks of immense American hubris. For after unilaterally deciding to exit the Afghan quagmire of its own making — Washington is sending the message that the Afghan people don’t deserve an Air Force presidential landing. In reality, President Biden should have visited both Kabul and Islamabad to discuss the ins-and-outs of the US departure. Real men don’t end war in this way. Ghani will likely seek assurances on continued American support in the face of increases in violence at home. Additionally, there is the not un-small matter of financial assistance from the US and its NATO allies. Pakistani Foreign Minster Shah Mahmood Qureshi noted, during a recent interview with an Afghan television network, that the international community has splashed a lot of cash in trying to get Afghanistan on its feet. Of course, there is much truth in this. But it overlooks the US moral duty to nation-build what it has destroyed. Sadly, that was never on the cards from the get-go. Thereby explaining in large part why the Taliban now contest or control up to 70 percent of Afghan territory outside urban centres. The group also reportedly exerts direct control over 57 percent of district administrative centres. Where once the American mission was redefined as to ensure that Afghan women and girls could paint their nails — the Taliban are now talking of how an Islamic system is the only means of guaranteeing Afghan peace and women’s rights. This is a worry given the group’s track record. Especially as this will, once more, be affected by the barrel of many guns. The US has failed miserably in Afghanistan. It has also failed the Afghan people and those of the broader region. And it cares not that without a negotiated peace cvil war will break out and spill over to Pakistan and beyond. If Washington believes that this is what having the last word looks like — it had better think again. *