Recent events unfortunately seem to have proved bin Laden right. Biden gambled that a precipitous U.S. pullout would not severely set back U.S. national security interests, but his ill-advised decision instead yielded a self-inflicted defeat with major counterterrorism and geopolitical consequences.

Far from ending the “forever war,” the U.S. pullout has handed Islamist terrorists an opportunity—as well as munitions and money—to intensify their brutal attacks. Afghanistan now will revert to being a sanctuary for a wide spectrum of Islamist terrorist groups who are determined to escalate their jihad against multiple targets, including the U.S. homeland, Americans overseas, and many U.S. allies.

The Biden administration should not dig itself into a deeper hole by trusting the Taliban to defend U.S. and Western interests against ISIS-K. Washington must now spend scarce resources, time, and energy in establishing a new framework for containing the dangerous spillover effects of its disastrous Afghanistan policy.

The American pullout, which was supposed to enable a U.S. pivot to Asia, is likely instead to enable an ISIS pivot to Afghanistan. Rather than free up resources to meet the growing challenge of China, the pullout will more likely trigger cascading negative consequences that will boost terrorist threats, undermine the trust of allies in U.S. leadership, and benefit China as well as other adversaries.

James Phillips is the senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at The Heritage Foundation.

Image: Reuters.