Well, aside from the fact this was always going to be a generational conflict if we wanted to actually change the country, a good start would have been building an Afghan military that wasn't entirely reliant on us for logistics, intelligence, procurement, maintenance, training, air support, CasEvac, you know. Literally every support function.

We cut the cord practically over night, leaving behind a military that was all tooth no tail, and then justified the abandonment as the same moralizing bullshit we use to claim poverty is the fault of the impoverished.