Maybe the Afghanistan war skeptics were right all along

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Sudoku puzzle of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - The [Afghanistan skeptics were right](. - Inflation is [slightly more inflated](. - Louis [DeJoy is still running]( the post office. - [America is less White](, whatever that means. American soldiers in Afghanistan 20 years ago. Photographer: Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images North America Afghanistan in 20-Year Hindsight Twenty years ago, Americans were pretty happy with their war in Afghanistan. The calculus seemed simple at first: Al-Qaeda attacked us from Afghanistan. Let’s attack Afghanistan to kill al-Qaeda, take out its Taliban sponsors, and prevent more attacks. But unfortunately there wasn’t just a big red button that said “STOP TERRORISM” on it in the middle of Afghanistan. There wasn’t even Osama bin Laden. Instead, it was a whole country with a whole culture and millions of people and a lengthy history of making life hell for unwelcome visitors. This made the war’s aims impossibly complex. Do you kill al-Qaeda, take out the Taliban and leave ASAP, or do you try to turn Afghanistan into, like, Texas but with more mountains, so the Taliban and al-Qaeda can’t reconstitute? Noah Feldman had this argument with his father 20 years ago, and his position then fell on the “Texas in the Hindu Kush” end of the spectrum. His father declared that goal impossible. Now, with America’s involvement over and the Taliban instantly back in charge, Noah realizes his father was right all along: [Americans were wrong to think they could change Afghanistan](.  Interestingly, the Taliban have made some [encouraging]( promises about letting women work, not sponsoring terrorism and other stuff modern, responsible countries do. Nobody should take their word for it. But you could almost let yourself hope it suggests something has changed for the better. We just won’t have to wait 20 years to tell. Further Afghanistan Reading: - [Biden was wrong to blame Afghanistan’s military]( for failing to defend Kabul. America failed Afghanistan’s military. — Bobby Ghosh - What [Biden’s speech achieved](. — Jonathan Bernstein Inflation Watch! Wages and Logjams Edition Since last we checked the nation’s inflation temperature, price anxiety has [bubbled]( into the political discourse, and consumers and businesses have gotten more worried about it. Scenes of people frantically trying to leave a fallen capital after another lost [land war in Asia]( probably don’t help to ease That ’70s Vibe. The hard inflation numbers have at least stopped being shockingly ugly. Still, John Authers writes, [low-skilled wages have climbed, and supply chains keep getting tangled](, nudging the threat of actual inflation a smidgen higher on his proprietary inflation-indicator dashboard: In light of this new information, Bloomberg Opinion Today has no choice but to raise its Inflation Threat Level from four to five (5) Volckers out of 10. U.S. Postal Service Still Not DeJoyLess Hey, remember that time then-President Donald Trump put Louis DeJoy in charge of the U.S. Postal Service, and DeJoy proceeded to wreck its ability to deliver the mail before a mail-in election, and people got really mad about that? And do you also remember how Trump is no longer president (seriously!), and how Joe Biden is? Given this set of facts, who do you think is now running the Postal Service: - Nobody - Liberal H. Postalguy - Louis DeJoy If you answered “Louis DeJoy,” then you are right and also perhaps a little confused. As Tim O’Brien reminds us, [DeJoy is still running the Postal Service]( and still busily enacting Trump’s plans to overhaul the thing. This is not because Biden is powerless; all he has to do is replace some of the DeJoy fans on the Board of Governors. But that would be a big, messy political fight, and Biden may feel he already has kind of enough on his plate. So he will probably wait for December, when the board’s DeJoy-supporting chairman departs. But that means DeJoy will have been in office for nearly another full year, at least. A lot of people are going to be DeJected. Telltale Charts Yes, [America has gotten less White and more urban]( in the past decade, but Justin Fox writes the numbers may not be as straightforward as they seem. For one thing, the definition of “White” has changed a lot. This weird moment in the pandemic is also a [weird moment for retailers trying to solve the mystery]( of consumer trends and supply-chain nightmares, writes Tara Lachapelle. Further Reading Kathy [Hochul’s best shot at getting re-elected]( as New York’s governor is to focus on the state’s urgent needs, not campaigning. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Apple has smartly [aimed its new iPhones at creators and influencers](. — Tae Kim Rather than finding a way to open up and get people vaccinated, [Hong Kong relies on Draconian quarantines](. — Anjani Trivedi The CFA exam is hard to pass, but at least it’s also [of no benefit to most people]( who take it. — Jared Dillian [Europe must let its banks offer higher bonuses]( or lose talent to the U.S. or, even worse, the U.K. — Marcus Ashworth We must [map the ocean floor to fight climate change](. It won’t cost much more than sending a rover to Mars. — Dawn Wright ICYMI One Covid case [shut down New Zealand](. A [new report from Wuhan]( offers new hints at Covid’s origins. Tech struggles to [build a machine that can smell]( stuff. Kickers [RIP to Maki Kaji](, the “Godfather of Sudoku.” (h/t Ellen Kominers) An [inflatable prosthetic hand]( gives amputees fine control, sensation. Maine [woman is still catching lobsters at 101](. Stonehenge is [made of nearly indestructible stuff](. Notes:  Please send lobsters and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. 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