In “History Forces Biden’s Hand” (Global View, Jan. 25), Walter Russell Mead claims, “Not since Jimmy Carter’s presidency has the U.S. faced a concatenation of crises and setbacks on this scale.” But we are not witnessing merely the natural flow of history. Then as now, weakness invites trouble. Americans enforced reasonable conditions in Afghanistan for two decades, but President Biden could not impose terms for two months to remove our citizens, allies, equipment and troops safely. Mr. Biden is not the victim of history. He is the cause.

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President Biden In Washington, Feb. 2.

Photo: CHERISS MAY/REUTERS

In “History Forces Biden’s Hand” (Global View, Jan. 25), Walter Russell Mead claims, “Not since Jimmy Carter’s presidency has the U.S. faced a concatenation of crises and setbacks on this scale.” But we are not witnessing merely the natural flow of history. Then as now, weakness invites trouble. Americans enforced reasonable conditions in Afghanistan for two decades, but President Biden could not impose terms for two months to remove our citizens, allies, equipment and troops safely. Mr. Biden is not the victim of history. He is the cause.

Dan Pisenti

Mill Valley, Calif.