The New Yorker’s Megan K. Stack on how the war that Americans forgot is ending in chaos and secrecy: “In a sense, the obfuscation was predictable. Leaving a country that many expect will now collapse into civil war, the United States has no victory to declare; it can only acknowledge the reality of relinquishment and retreat. ‘A military that’s withdrawing from battle, whether it’s an organized withdrawal or a retreat, doesn’t want any media nearby,” said the Getty combat photographer John Moore. ‘The military wants to show itself in a victorious way. When you’re leaving a field of battle, it never looks victorious.'” A Near Press Blackout in Afghanistan.