(Victor J. Blue | The New York Times) A heavily armed Taliban fighter guards the Afghanistan central bank in Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. "In every other way the withdrawal has made the case for an even deeper cynicism — about America's capacities as a superpower, our mission in Afghanistan and the class of generals, officials, experts and politicos who sustained its generational extension," writes The New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat.