A Mission To Give Afghans Democracy Became A Bid To Repair America’s Own

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In this photograph taken on Aug. 10, 2017, a U.S. soldier sits in the rear of Chinook helicopter while flying over Kabul.

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President George W. Bush addresses a joint session of the Congress on Sept. 20, 2001.

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Sarah Chayes

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President Barack Obama greets U.S. troops during a surprise visit to Bagram Air Field, north of Kabul, in Afghanistan in 2014.

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden answers a question as President Donald Trump listens during their second debate in October 2020.

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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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With the U.S. Capitol in the background, demonstrators march along Pennsylvania Avenue in an anti-Vietnam War protest in Washington in November 1969.

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President Joe Biden speaks about the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan from the East Room of the White House.

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Taliban fighters on a pickup move around a market area, flocked with local Afghan people on Aug. 17, 2021.

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Taliban fighters on a pickup move around a market area, flocked with local Afghan people on Aug. 17, 2021.

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It is notable that Biden vowed to end the mission by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks — a date with no military significance in Afghanistan but with political resonance at home.

That date will carry new meanings now that it’s clear that the Taliban will hold Kabul on Sept. 11, 2021.

• Afghanistan