“We did not go to Afghanistan to nation build,” President Joe Biden said. “And it’s the right and the responsibility of Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country.”

As American troops leave, the situation on the ground is increasingly dire. Over two months, the Taliban have seized at least 150 of Afghanistan’s 421 districts. Biden seemed to recognize that reality when he said, “The mission hasn’t failed — yet.”

When asked if the US would be responsible for civilian deaths in the country, he said, emphatically, “No, no, no.”

All this means zilch in the face of facts on the ground. The situation is dire. The whole region is in turmoil and India is scrambling to make sense of the situation. The US owes no one anything but mate, if you broke it, you own it. It is that simple.

What is it doing now instead? The Biden administration has committed $266 million in humanitarian aid and $3.3 billion in security assistance to Afghanistan, as well as three million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and oxygen supplies. Britain has also withdrawn nearly all of its troops from Afghanistan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed.

It is a terribly sad, sad show.