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Afghanistan’s free fall is resulting in criticism for the Pentagon, U.S. intelligence agencies and President Joe Biden, begging the question whether any progress was actually made during the 20-year, $2 trillion war and occupation.

“There was a lot of good that was done there over the years,� said Jason Nordquist, a Centreville resident who served three tours of duty in Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force. “But it does feel like a lot of everything that took place was essentially for nothing. What was it for at this point?�

For a war whose basis has been challenged from the beginning and whose dramatic finale draws unmistakable comparisons to Vietnam, America’s exit from Afghanistan and the swiftness of the Taliban’s takeover have compromised the supposed endgame of the conflict and for some the validity of all costs expended.

“It was not only the time and the resources that were completely wasted, you know, but all of the lives that were wasted, all of the people that were permanently injured,� said Nordquist, whose service included time in Bagram.

According to the Costs of War Project, a study housed at Brown University’s Watson Institute, the United States’ war costs totaled $2.261 trillion between 2001 and 2021. Out of an estimated 241,000 deaths, over 6,200 were either American military or contractors, and over 47,000 were Afghani civilians. Another 69,000 Afghan police and soldiers died in the conflict.

“It’s just a complete waste of all the time and effort and everything that was put in there,� the Air Force veteran added.

Beginning on Aug. 6, the Taliban’s conquest on major Afghani cities climaxed nine days later as the Islamic militia flooded into the nation’s capital, Kabul, occupying the palace vacated by President Ashraf Ghani earlier that day. The relatively unopposed conquering frustrated American lawmakers, who in the last several days have shifted blame between the four administrations active during the war, Afghani leaders, and especially the American-trained Afghani forces. The $2 billion American Embassy was evacuated with helicopters mirroring the fall of Saigon.

“We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their airplanes, something the Taliban doesn’t have,� President Joe Biden said Monday, Aug. 16, the day after the Taliban entered Kabul. “We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future.�

Biden’s assurance on the stability of Afghanistan and his decision to withdraw drew significant criticism as the country deteriorated back into Taliban rule. While defending his actions and citing his promise to “be straight� with the American public, the president acknowledged that the Taliban’s takeover unfolded much faster than he or his administration had anticipated — a feeling shared by many.

“You knew it was going to happen, and I would have thought that it would have happened very quick, just as it did,� Nordquist said, admitting that while serving, he never expected a full American withdrawal from Afghanistan. “Maybe not as quick as it did but, you know, very quickly.�

The velocity of the attacks has, more than anything, scrambled the Afghani population. Thousands of desperate citizens swarmed Hamid Karzai International Airport Monday trying to escape, storming runways and even attempting to cling onto departing American military planes. The chaos killed at least six Afghans, with one body found in the landing gear of an Air Force transport plane that took off.

Though Biden has publicly committed to the safe evacuation of Afghan civilians who risked their lives to support the U.S. military during the war — telling reporters in June that “those who helped us will not be left behind� — protection for refugees was an inconsistent endeavor even while American forces were based in Afghanistan. According to a 2019 joint status report from the departments of State and Homeland Security, the total processing time for a special immigrant visa designed to bring Afghans employed by the military into America was 503 days.

Since July, the U.S. government has evacuated about 2,000 interpreters and their families whose cases were already approved, bringing them from Kabul to Fort Lee in Richmond, Virginia. With more than 300,000 Afghans affiliated with the Americans’ two-decade effort, according to the International Rescue Committee, specifics on how the country’s evacuation efforts will be elevated in the wake of the Taliban takeover have not been offered.

“It’s horrible to think about,� Nordquist said. “I feel like the administration basically signed the death warrant for thousands of them and their families, and also sold half the country basically into slavery.�

Since taking over Kabul and Afghanistan effectively, Taliban leaders have broadcast their intent to maintain calm in the country, though world leaders and human rights advocates who remember their brutal rule from 1996 to 2001 are skeptical.

In television interviews – one of which was conducted by a female reporter – and on social media, nationalist leaders are also attempting to save a more moderate face in their views on women’s rights, the hampering of which accounted for one of the billboard atrocities of their past rule. In their present occupation, women’s rights will also be one of the most spectated indicators as to what kind of rule the Taliban will grasp over the country.

Nordquist, who convinced his three nephews to enlist during the war, is not optimistic.

“Everything that has progressed there is just going to be overturned,� he said with a tone of defeat.