The President and Jake Sullivan are in the Oval Office, talking about Afghanistan. Harris is doing damage control in Southeast Asia.
B: We need to talk about what this means, and where we go from here.
S: Agreed.
B: Where did we go wrong? By “we,” I mean America, not just us.
S: The initial campaign was justified, but mission creep set in. We wanted to make Afghanistan look too much like America. We didn’t have a clue as to how to do that. Then our military, without asking anyone, created an Afghan military that couldn’t fight without us. We either had to stay forever, or go and watch a Taliban parade in Kabul. The rest is history.
B: What could we have done better?
S: We could have done a better job of consulting with our NATO partners. We could have communicated the risks of the withdrawal process more clearly to the American people. But, let’s be honest: once the decision to withdraw was made, this was going to happen at some point in time. There is no plausible scenario that doesn’t involve a rush to the airport.
B: I wish I hadn’t said the thing about Saigon. What do we do next?
S: Get as many people out as quickly as possible. Use our financial and diplomatic leverage to save anyone who is left.
B: What are the lasting domestic political impacts?
S: As long as the evacuation is reasonably successful, don’t worry too much. If we have a hostage situation, that’s a different story.
B: Should we recognize the Taliban government?
S: All of our dealings with the Taliban should be based solely on self-interest. If we get something valuable for recognizing them at some point in the future, maybe. The bottom line is that they belong to Pakistan, and Pakistan belongs to China. We’re not going to pay to stabilize the neighborhood for the benefit of hostile nations. Our friend in the area is India.
B: That’s what I thought. (Sullivan leaves.)