Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command when Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, fell to jihadists on Aug. 15, 2021, recently told Politico: “My belief is we should have stayed. I believe that everything that happened flowed from that basic decision [to withdraw].” McKenzie is quite right about this.

President Joe Biden and his surrogates have sometimes allowed that mistakes were made in the execution of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. How could they not after scenes of Afghans falling from moving planes and the massacre of 200 people at the Kabul airport by the Islamic State. But tactical mistakes during the withdrawal pale when set against the ultimate decision: stay or go.