Is it time to get out of Afghanistan?

Is it time for the United States to finally - and fully - withdraw all combat forces from Afghanistan? And, if so, did the USA secure a victory?

President Donald Trump said yesterday that talks are "dead" between the US and the Taliban, according to the Wall Street Journal:

The developments left uncertain the status of possible U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan. Under proposed terms of a U.S.-Taliban agreement, the U.S. would withdraw about 5,000 troops within 135 days after completion of the deal. There are currently about 14,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military has refused to publicly discuss its force posture. U.S. officials on Monday said there are no immediate plans to decrease the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. One official said the Pentagon is still sorting out the status of the talks.

Polling shows Americans would support continuing the nation's longest war, but only if there appeared to be a path to success. How "success" is defined, however, is critical.

Pete's Prep: Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019

• From the Asheville Citizen-Times: "Answering months of calls from residents, City Council is set to take its first official action against changes to its election system imposed by the Republican-majority General Assembly."
• The latest on the redistricting process from WRAL: "Key House and Senate Republicans laid out a path Monday on court-ordered redistricting, suggesting that both bodies start with maps put forward by an expert in the case that got the old maps tossed."
• From the Hearld-Sun: "North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said Monday that he was joining a multi-state investigation into the business practices of tech giant Google, citing concerns over the company’s dominance in digital advertising."
• Feel good story of the day from WWNC.com: "Boy Who Used Disney Money To Feed Dorian Evacuees Is Going To Disney World"