Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

I agree with @AmbJohnBolton. It isn't a matter of "if" the Taliban resume control. They will resume control, boosting the morale and gladdening the heart of every lunatic jihadi in the world. And here's what will happen:

https://twitter.com/AmbJohnBolton/status/1382023500802719746

The Taliban will roll over Kabul. Scenes of utter horror and depravity will follow. Washington will realize--as it did when ISIS rolled over Mosul--that this is a serious problem and can't be ignored.

Since it will be impossible to persuade Americans to send ground troops back to Afghanistan--not least because it would be an admission that leaving was a grievous mistake--we will deal with this as we dealt with Mosul; i.e.,

we will turn Kabul into eight million tons of rubble. There will be literally countless civilians ground to death in that rubble. theatlantic.com/international/…. With typical amnesia, we will tell ourselves we had no choice (which, at that point, will be true).

The US will never allow the Taliban or ISIS or any other such group to hold a state-like territory, especially not if it's proximate to Pakistan. Just not going to happen. But for a brief time, it will seem as if it might happen:

This will inspire unspeakable depravity among enthusiasts of this vision, which will largely (but not exclusively) be visited on Afghan civilians. It may take a few terrorist attacks on Western capitals to shake us out of our torpor, but the outcome is certain:

We'll pulverize the place from the air, visiting still more horror upon Afghan civilians. And with straight faces and *genuine* amnesia, we'll tell ourselves we had no choice.

Except we do. And we're making it now.