Perhaps what makes it all the worse is that our foreign adventure into Afghanistan served as a promise to Afghani women — a promise we had little ability and no intention to keep.

One incident that drives this home pointedly for me is how the women of the Afghan national football team have been urged to delete their social media profiles and burn their uniforms to avoid Taliban retribution.

These accomplished women serve as examples of countless more women who rose to positions of professional accomplishment in Afghanistan. Physicians, business leaders, engineers, politicians, etc.

They rose to those positions because they trusted U.S. promises. Now, they will be targeted by the Taliban because we didn’t have the patience and the stomach to keep our promises.

I find this deeply sad and shameful.