As Americans commemorated the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01 with somber ceremonies and reflections, thousands of miles away another ceremony was held, as the Taliban raised their flag over the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, in the country where thousands of young American men and women lost their lives fighting both the Taliban and al-Qaeda following the terrorist attacks.

Twenty years ago, on the eve of 9/11, the Taliban controlled Kabul. The city had little electricity, and was for all intents and purposes, backward. Now, as they raised their flags once again, Kabul is a bustling city, with electricity and other infrastructure easily available, thanks to over a trillion dollars spent by the United States in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

For twenty years, the United States poured its sweat, blood, and tears into building up a country that had been led by radical Islamists who harbored Osama bin Laden and other terrorists. For twenty years, US presidents recognized that leaving the country would allow the Taliban back into power and allow them to create a terrorist superstate, where those plotting evil against the United States and other democracies across the globe can live and plan their attacks freely. For twenty years, the American government understood that they can’t let that happen.

Then came President Joe Biden. The Democrat said he was pulling all US forces out of the country, no matter what. Former President Donald Trump had signed an agreement with the Taliban to leave Afghanistan, but only if the Taliban followed and abided by a strict set of agreements. They didn’t follow through on their side of the deal, but Biden pulled the US out of the country anyway.

And what a disaster the withdrawal was. Biden promised that the withdrawal would go smoothly, that we would not see horrifying images out of Afghanistan, and that it would take the Taliban at least three months to overtake the country, giving the US ample time to evacuate all troops and Afghan allies who put their lives at risk to help the United States. Instead, the pullout and the evacuations were an utterly catastrophic disaster.

The Taliban quickly overtook the entire country, including the capital Kabul, and blocked many people who were supposed to be evacuated from leaving. Not only that, they immediately began hunting down and killing US allies. What did Biden do about it? Nothing at all. He kept running away. An ISIS suicide bomber then blew himself up at the airport, killing 13 US troops and over 150 Afghans – many of them US allies – and what did Biden do? He kept on fleeing.

Instead of evacuating all Americans and Afghan allies of the United States from the country, he left hundreds of Americans, and thousands of Afghans loyal to the US, stranded behind enemy lines – after vowing not to do so.

Twenty years ago, the US was hit with the worst attacks on its soil in history. Twenty years later, we are back where we started – the Taliban controlling Afghanistan, the US looking weak on the world stage, and the possibility of future terror attacks being masterminded and carried out from a home base that harbors terrorists being all too real.

President Biden, the Taliban and terrorists worldwide say ‘thank you.’