Washington likes to describe its exit from Afghanistan as a closed chapter. The weapons it left behind say otherwise. More than $7 billion worth of American military equipment stayed in the country in 2021, according to the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), and years later it is still turning up in the hands of terrorists who kill Pakistani soldiers, police and civilians. U.S. weapons are now strengthening terrorism and eroding stability in Pakistan. That is the result of a U.S. policy failure, and it deserves to be named as one.

Start with how it was left. SIGAR found that the U.S. military kept an uneven record of what it handed over, and that an “abrupt and uncoordinated” withdrawal made it worse. Any planner is expected to ask what happens to the arsenal if the withdrawal goes wrong. Either the question was never asked, or the answer was ignored. Neither reflects well on the people in charge.

The link between the Taliban administration and the TTP, backed by modern weapons, threatens the region today and could threaten more than the region tomorrow.

The link between the Taliban administration and the TTP, backed by modern weapons, threatens the region today and could threaten more than the region tomorrow.

What followed was predictable. Control over the equipment was weak, and the Taliban took over stocks with no reliable system to track them. Elements of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA), which controls Afghanistan, have long-standing ties with terrorist groups, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Weak control combined with those ties let the equipment move into terrorist networks operating against Pakistan. A black market took shape, and modern military equipment began circulating through it. The links between TTA elements and the TTP gave the group easy access, strengthening its operational capabilities. When weapons go........

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