As the Taliban gains ground in Afghanistan, this is Biden's cold-eyed judgment of American interests

At the end of the movie "Charlie Wilson's War," the eponymous main character is warned that the "crazies" just rolled into Kandahar -- and that the US would regret deserting Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. The scene, between Wilson, a hard-drinking Texas congressman played by Tom Hanks, and CIA case officer Gust Avrakotos, is pierced by the noise of a jet landing at Washington's National Airport -- a haunting reference to the hijacked plane attacks on September 11, 2001.

Now, the "crazies" are rolling into Kandahar again, and Washington insiders are asking the same question about what will happen once the US turns its back on Afghanistan. Even hawks who criticized President Joe Biden's decision to pull all troops from America's longest war have been shocked at the speed at which the Taliban, that once harbored Osama bin Laden, is snapping up territory. They see vindication for their position that the US should have stayed.