Our picks: AfghanistanTaliban’s Present – and Past – Promises | Nobody Wins in Afghanistan | U.S. Keeps Doing What It Can’t, and more

Taliban Battles Militia in First Significant Clashes Since Takeover  (Saeed Shah and Jessica Donati, Wall Street Journal)
Taliban fighters on Saturday battled a local militia in northern Afghanistan in some of the first significant armed clashes since the rapid takeover of the country, while the Islamist group’s political leaders held talks in Kabul on the formation of a new government. Efforts to evacuate foreign nationals and Afghans who have worked with them over the past two decades, meanwhile, continued to be plagued by chaotic conditions in the capital. Taliban check points and unruly crowds prevented many from reaching the airport. The U.S. Embassy warned Americans that “because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time.” The security risk partly involved concerns of violence by the Islamic State extremist group, defense officials said. The U.S. is creating at least two new meeting points for Americans to lead them to the airport to improve safety, a U.S. official said. British officials said that airport gates had been closed for a time Saturday, although the Pentagon would not say whether it had to close any of the gates. “There’s a whole panoply of security concerns we have,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a Pentagon press briefing.

Taliban Leaders Are Promising Peace, Order and Amnesty in Afghanistan. They Promised That Last Time, Too.  (Sammy Westfall, Washington Post)
At a news conference in Kabul last week, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid made the case that today’s Taliban was no longer the group the world remembers from the last time it came to power nationally. “Nobody will be harmed in Afghanistan,” he said. “Of course, there is a huge difference between us now and 20 years ago.” Observers were quick to seize on signs of compromise and divergence from the hard-line stance that has marked Taliban attitudes regarding the role of women and girls: Female journalists returned to the screen the day after Kabul’s fall, even interviewing a Taliban official on live television. The Taliban’s political office spokesman tweeted a video of a Taliban-aligned scholar advising female hospital staffers to continue their work.  These moments would have been difficult to imagine during the Taliban’s previous rule over the country, which lasted from 1996 until the 2001 invasion by U.S.-led forces. But this wasn’t the first time the Taliban tried to present a reassuring face. Some of the official assurances that accompanied the group’s ascension in 1996 struck a similar tone. On Sept. 27, 1996, Taliban forces captured Kabul overnight, flooding in from all directions after a 15-day sweep of the country.

Afghanistan Hasn’t Damaged U.S. Credibility  (Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
The withdrawal has been tragic—but it hasn’t been a strategic disaster.

Nobody Wins in Afghanistan  (By Adam Weinstein, Foreign Policy)
For China and Russia, the country is a liability, not an asset.

The United States Keeps Doing What It Can’t  (James Traub, Foreign Policy)
The main lesson from the failed intervention in Afghanistan is about the dangers of self-delusion. Will anyone learn it?

Francis Fukuyama on the End of American Hegemony  (Economist)
Afghanistan does not mark the end of the American era; the challenge to its global standing is political polarization at home, says a foreign-policy expert.

The Taliban Can—and Can’t—Be Trusted  (Anatol Lieven, Foreign Policy)
There’s good news on international terrorism—and bad news on plenty else.

After Afghanistan Collapse, Iraqis Fear They Could Be Next  (Bilal Wahab, Foreign Policy)
The parallels are easy to list.

Islamic State Brands Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan a “U.S.-Backed Conspiracy”  (James Rothwell, The Telegraph)
Rambling IS editorial seeks to present the Taliban as fake jihadists and reflects the deep animosity between the groups.

There’s Nothing Inevitable about U.S. Decline  (Jeremy Warner, The Telegraph)
The real lesson of the fall of Saigon was that America has a unique capacity to rebound from defeat.

Joe Biden’s Chaotic Afghanistan Withdrawal has “Given a Huge Boost to Militant Islam” Says Former Ambassador  (Jamie Johnson, The Telegraph)
Biden has addressed the nation three times in a week, in an attempt to quell the growing chorus of criticism.