Five years ago President Joe Biden pulled(拉；撤出) American troops out of Afghanistan. He was not forced to. America could have defended Afghanistan’s flawed but democratically elected government indefinitely, but chose not to.(美国本可以无限期保卫阿富汗政府，却选择不这样做。) Voters were weary of America’s longest war, against the Taliban, a militia(民兵组织) that controlled much of the countryside. Donald Trump set a timetable for pulling out; Mr Biden did so completely.
五年前，美国总统乔·拜登将美军撤出阿富汗。他并非被迫如此。美国本可以无限期地保卫阿富汗那个虽有缺陷但经民主选举产生的政府，却选择了放弃。选民们厌倦了美国这场最漫长的战争——对手是控制了阿富汗大片乡村的民兵组织塔利班。唐纳德·特朗普曾为撤军设定时间表；拜登则彻底完成了撤军。
America’s looming(逼近的，即将发生的) departure prompted(促使，引起) every Afghan with a gun to revise their expectations about who was likely to win their country’s civil war. Warlords switched sides(倒戈，改变立场); government soldiers abandoned their posts and melted away(消失，逐渐散去). The government fell almost immediately. The Taliban seized power almost unopposed(未受抵抗的). Desperate civilians fleeing their new rulers clung to the wheels of a departing American plane and plunged to their deaths.(绝望的平民逃离新统治者，抓住飞机轮子，坠地身亡。)
美国撤军的阴影促使每一个持枪的阿富汗人重新评估谁可能赢得内战。军阀们纷纷倒戈；政府军士兵弃岗而逃，消失无踪。政府几乎瞬间垮台。塔利班几乎未遇抵抗便夺取了政权。绝望的平民逃离新统治者，紧紧抓住正在起飞的美国飞机的轮子，坠地身亡。
The Taliban (whose name means “religious students”) had first seized power in 1996, and imposed a brutal(野蛮的，残酷的) blend of Islamism and premodern tribal custom, banning girls’ education and stoning(石刑，用石头砸死) gay people to death. America and its allies overthrew(推翻，颠覆) them after they hosted al-Qaeda(基地组织，恐怖组织), the terrorist group that attacked America with hijacked planes in September 2001. But Taliban fighters then waged a guerrilla war(发动游击战) against the democratic system that America had introduced, murdering judges, police and anyone deemed(认为，视为) a collaborator. When Mr Biden gave up, a two-decade effort at nation-building ended in humiliation.(当拜登放弃时，二十年的国家建设以屈辱告终。) Other powers drew conclusions(得出结论) about America’s willingness to stand by(支持，忠于) its friends. Six months later, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
塔利班（其名称意为“宗教学生”）曾在1996年首次夺取政权，推行伊斯兰主义与前现代部落习俗的野蛮混合体，禁止女童教育，将同性恋者处以石刑。在美国及其盟友因其庇护基地组织（该恐怖组织于2001年9月用劫持的飞机袭击了美国）而将其推翻后，塔利班战士又对美国的民主制度发动游击战，杀害法官、警察以及任何被视为合作者的人。当拜登放弃时，二十年的国家建设努力以屈辱告终。其他大国从中学到了美国是否愿意坚守盟友的教训。六个月后，弗拉基米尔·普京入侵了乌克兰。
Cables to Kabul
致喀布尔的外交电文