Three years ago, U.S. forces pulled out of Afghanistan at Joe Biden’s direction in the most disastrous way possible. For much of the world, Biden’s decision was simply another tragic news story. But for those of us who had spent time in that remote country, it was a boot to the face.

I was deployed to Afghanistan from 2011-2012 as the communication director of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. The Alaska-based brigade’s mission was to secure the provinces of Khost, Paktiya, and Paktika in eastern Afghanistan, which was well known as a dangerous region. Forward Operating Base Salerno, the brigade’s headquarters, was colloquially referred to as rocket city, a designation that was well earned.

I had the privilege of leading a team that included both American soldiers and Afghan interpreters, the latter helping to keep a pulse on the local news and get truthful information out to what remained of the region’s press. Our comms efforts were done against a backdrop of rhetorical paradox. The official military talking points, which we were expected to parrot at every opportunity, were that coalition forces were there to support the Afghan government, which was leading the charge to victory. This proved to be an ethical tightrope. My men and I were determined not to lie, and we succeeded. But we frequently did not get to tell the whole truth due to the political malleability of those at higher levels, rather than for maintaining operational security. It bothered me every day.

The Afghan men we worked with were not under the same illusion that blinded the senior commanders in Kabul, Tampa, and the Pentagon. Shortly after our brigade arrived in December 2011, the Obama Administration announced force reductions with a targeted withdrawal date. It was clear that U.S. commitment was waning despite the bravado of military creeds about never accepting defeat. The Afghan war could not go on forever—and certainly not under rules of engagement that handcuffed our warriors from breaking the enemy’s will to fight. As a nation, we could not keep pouring lives and economic treasure into a region where the local populace was not willing to equally commit. But none of this meant we had to give the Taliban our mission calendar, which only served to increase their morale and resolve while draining our own.

The Biden Administration pulled out of Afghanistan in order to meet the public relations goal of announcing an end to combat operations during a 9/11 observance. The images from Kabul of the overrun Hamid Karzai International Airport, the news of 13 American troops killed at Abbey Gate, and visions of human beings falling from Air Force C-17 transports in flight were haunting to veterans who poured their lives into that tribal region. We knew that as Kabul fell, the Afghans who had partnered with us over the years were marked men. I had some peace knowing that the man I worked the most closely with had made it to the U.S. a few years before. Most of my colleagues did not share such assurance, and spent months in pained calls, negotiations, and covert international rescue missions in efforts to help those who risked their lives to support us over two decades of combat operations.

At the time of the withdrawal, I worked in the public affairs office for the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. While at lunch on August 17, 2021, I received a surprising email inviting me to go on Fox News for a conversation with Martha MacCallum. Knowing the sensitivity of the topic, I informed my boss. While admitting that he could not stop me, he asked me to turn down the offer. Desiring to be seen as a team player, I acceded to his wish. That was a mistake. There was a brief window in which the American public was suddenly interested in this mission our troops and their families had borne for so long. But the White House and Defense Department wanted it to pass quickly, and it did. Within days, coverage of Hurricane Ida replaced the tragedy occurring halfway around the world.

It dawned on me that if Fox News was interested in my perspective, then others might be as well. I wrote an essay describing the pain of veterans who watched the way the war ended. But the Combined Arms Center’s public affairs officer, who was my supervisor at the time, actively broke Army regulation by suppressing my ability to submit it for publication. My appeals to the chief of staff went nowhere, and Commanding General Lt. Gen. Ted Martin failed to follow through on a commitment to review the nonpartisan essay and offer counsel. The following year, with their boots off my neck, I was finally able to share my reflections publicly.

That attitude was one of indifference to the palpable sense of mourning across the Army. “Your grief be damned” could have been a poster hung across the halls by many senior officials. It seemed that their sole concern was to tamp down any potential embarrassment for the political figures who ordered a reckless and hasty American withdrawal that left the Taliban in a stronger position than it had been at the beginning of the war. That political vindictiveness was displayed again as the Army issued a press release condemning Donald Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where he laid a wreath for the 13 troops killed during those tragic final days of U.S. military operations in Kabul. No matter that the Gold Star families personally invited Trump to take part. As their families mark another anniversary of loss, it seems that top Army officials are more interested in partisan games than honoring our war dead.

While the Departments of State and Defense share in the responsibility for spreading 20 years of lies about how Afghanistan was progressing, the order to chaotically pull the plug came from Joe Biden as Commander in Chief. Biden and the careerists throughout the military chain of command callously dismissed the consequences of his reckless orders, which have led to two additional wars in the time since.

An honest assessment of the Biden Administration will note the nation’s tragic and embarrassing exit from Afghanistan at his behest, and the entirely preventable human suffering that has resulted since.