\n\n“The latest domino to fall to the Taliban was the northern commercial hub of Mazar-e-Sharif. It was becoming clear that Kabul was next. Seasoned military officers expressed disbelief that the Afghan forces appeared ready to give up their capital city without a fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEmail was blowing up left and right [with people saying] \u2018Wow, this is actually happening right now,\u2019\u201d a defense official said. \u201cThis thing just fell apart over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pentagon officials were realizing far too late that the Taliban had waged an effective influence campaign in addition to the physical one, taking advantage of tribal dynamics to build ties with village elders and others who played key roles in the group\u2019s mostly bloodless march across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the U.S. military had fewer than 2,500 troops left \u2014 not enough to understand just how fast the Afghan national army\u2019s morale and cohesion was crumbling.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Biden\u2019s cabinet members and their deputies<\/strong> had held some three-dozen \u201cscenario planning\u201d meetings following the president\u2019s April announcement that U.S. troops would be out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They covered everything from how to secure the U.S. Embassy and handle Afghan refugees to how to best position the U.S. military in the region in case things spun out of control.<\/strong> Many more sessions were held at the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command in Tampa, the State Department, and other agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it still wasn\u2019t enough to prepare for the utter collapse, in a matter of days, of America\u2019s two-decade, $2 trillion effort designed to prop up the Afghan government. Biden had insisted the Afghan military would fight; it largely hadn\u2019t. Blinken had scoffed at the notion that Kabul would fall over a weekend; and yet it did. The \u201cSaigon moment\u201d Biden feared had arrived.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n