There's always a need to save someone. The concept of being the World's Police needs to end. It sucks that your friends in Afghanistan suffer so, and yes, they have suffered in large part as pawns of other powers. That also sucks. It's a vestige of colonialism.

But on other hand, your male Afghan friends can take SOME initiative by, I dunno, treating women better than they do. Just a little better maybe? That's not just a Taliban issue, is it? I don't think so.

You can help by donating money to Afghan women's causes and pushing for women's rights in Afghanistan. This seems like a great time to take that kind of initiative, as opposed to spending energy on click-baity Medium headlines.

The mistake in Afghanistan happened 20 years ago when the U.S. tried to mold it into a clone of itself.

The only rational argument for not withdrawing is the argument for permanence (as in Germany, as you point out). That's not a bad argument, but it needs to be done with a firm understanding that this is the INTENT. A permanent presence. And its' an argument that should have been made 10-20 years ago.

Would the American people ever buy into that? Gosh, I dunno if they even should be asked, given their allergy to facts and information. They elected Donald Trump, for God's sake. But it's still something that at least should have been presented much sooner than, say, today.

This argument for a permanent presence is only being made after the fact. 20 years after the initial incursion. It's too late now to make that argument. The door has closed. I wish the Afghan people good luck, and I happen to think that enough of them find the Taliban loathsome that the Taliban will have a civil war on their hands if they turn back to the old ways of stadium beheadings and their other charming political traits.

If not, maybe China can help.