Biden, ignoring all these policy “details” — like Trump was once said to do — simply decreed that the United States would depart Afghanistan by the anniversary of 9/11, no conditions attached. He thereby placed optics over substance, politicizing what is sacred in the process — as Trump was also once said to do. (At the same time, by changing the withdrawal deadline from Trump’s date of May 1 not once but twice, to Sept. 11 and then to Aug. 31, Biden clearly found flexibility in Doha where he wanted it.)

Even as US intelligence warned of the Taliban’s advance, and even as the estimated timetable for its victory was radically foreshortened, Biden and his administration continued to spin. Another way of putting it: They spurned the experts, choosing instead to live inside a bubble of “alternative facts.”

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby talked about “very capable” and “very sophisticated” Afghan military units, while White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Afghan forces “have what they need.” In a phone call with Ghani, Biden went further still, pressuring the Afghan leader to claim that military conditions were positive “whether it is true or not.” One must wonder: While building false confidence in the Afghan military — the better to blame it later — did Biden ever consider the consequences of giving US citizens in Afghanistan, or our Afghan allies, false confidence in their continued safety?