AUGUST 15, 2021, IS A DAY AFGHANISTAN WILL never forget. It’s the day the former president, Ashraf Ghani, ran away as Taliban forces were barreling toward Kabul, the city that had become the hub of IEDs and targeted killings over the previous year. Ghani had spent the preceding 11 days in silence, never once mentioning a single province that had fallen to the Taliban. After he jetted off to safety, he didn’t bother to issue an apology until several weeks had passed. Even now, his administration—full of ministers, ambassadors, and generals who had long been dogged by accusations of corruption, sexual harassment, fraud, incompetence, and war crimes—has never had to face questioning in Afghanistan. Those officials are now in Dubai, Istanbul, and New Delhi.
While Ghani was making his escape,…
