“When I hear that we could’ve, should’ve continued the so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan at low risk to our service members, at low cost, I don’t think enough people understand how much we’ve asked of the 1% of this country to put that uniform on.” Biden made his case for ending the forever war. Here’s the full speech.

+ The evil of the Taliban has not been overstated. But their desire to actually govern, and therefore, their need for international support, has been understated. The free world is not without leverage. Taliban cooperation included protecting Americans from possible terrorist attack at airport. And, Taliban demand US diplomats return to Kabul and have a diplomatic presence. (Again, no one should take the Taliban at their word. But they’ve got a country to govern and an economy to develop.)

+ “The fighters told her to pass along a message: They were looking for me and I needed to get in touch. If I didn’t, what happened next would be my own fault.” Must-read from the NYT (gift article for ND readers): The Airlifts Have Stopped, and the Taliban Are Looking for Me.

+ White House responds to plea of interpreter who helped rescue Biden but is still stuck in Afghanistan.