The Afghanistan War appears to be over. After nearly 20 years of fighting, America's longest conflict has come to a bitter conclusion. Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, fell to the Taliban in fewer than 72 hours. This came on the heels of a weeklong blitz that saw city after city capitulate to the Taliban.

How did this happen?

"This was an insurgency that for the past two decades was unable to capture even one of the 34 provincial capital cities in Afghanistan, but then out of nowhere, they sweep across the whole country and they're setting in the presidential palace in Kabul," says Luke Coffey, a veteran of the Afghanistan War who directs The Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy. "It's an utter disgrace and an extreme loss of prestige [for] the United States that President Biden allowed this to happen."

Coffey joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to help explain how the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated so quickly and what the implications are.

We also cover these news stories: 

• President Biden briefly returns to the White House from his vacation at Camp David to address the nation on Afghanistan.
• Taliban leaders declare “the war is over,” just short of 20 years since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
• At least seven are dead amid chaos at the international airport in Kabul when thousands of Afghan citizens desperately attempt to escape the invading Taliban forces. About 1,000 American paratroopers will be deployed to the airport to assist in evacuation efforts.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is going to try to advance the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and the separate $3.5 trillion spending bill together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.