“If you lose the Taliban’s cooperation, the Taliban could … unleash people toward the airport, stop cooperating completely, overwhelm the Americans’ process, have that process break down,” the journalist explained.

“But then if you step back and look at what is going on, this is the United States after 20 years,” Engel continued. “This war used to be called Operation Enduring Freedom, and it’s turned out not to be enduring and they’re not leaving behind a society that is free.”

“It is only free according to what the Taliban says,” he added.

Engel went on to say, “You can look at this as … a moment of American humiliation, leaving, forced to leave on the Taliban’s clock and with the Taliban’s good graces.”

“So, tactically it makes sense but I’m not sure how history … I think history will judge this moment as a very dark period for the United States,” he argued.