Lately, the political cliché of Afghanistan being the “graveyard of empires” has been thrown around quite wantonly. The political enemies of President Biden – both foreign and domestic – have alluded to the failed British excursions during the mid- and late-Nineteenth century, and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 as historical precursors to this century’s failed American vicennium intervention. But as with all historical analogies, the devil is in the details rather than the trope.