The momentum to keep American troops engrossed in a 20-year civil war has been given a fresh bolt of energy. The intellectual adrenaline shot was given by the Afghanistan Study Group, co-chaired by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford.

Dunford recommended delaying former President Donald Trump’s May 1 troop withdrawal timetable. Since the 84-page report was published, a flurry of editorials and op-eds have piggybacked on its recommendations. On Feb. 19, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote that “keeping the troops in place a while longer” is probably the best policy option available. The lobbying appears to be having some effect on the Biden administration. According to a source involved with President Biden’s Afghanistan policy deliberations, full withdrawal by May 1 is “off the table.”