that they would look into the abyss, the administration and say, whoa, this could be really ugly. let s not do that perhaps after all. and then it was the withdrawal of the contractors who kept the afghan air force going. you know well, your husband is a special forces officer who served with afghan commandos. they will go to the fight. they just have to get there. and as the afghan helicopters and fixed wing aircraft readiness eroded, they no longer could provide the kind of reinforcements, regency supply, at posts around the country. yes, they re more numerous, but the taliban could mass where they chose to do so and they could achieve local dominance over those organizations. and then once afghan soldiers and local leaders see that no one is coming to the rescue, i think it s almost predictable at that point, especially, again, as they see others surrender, cut a deal or flee, that that then just follows. and it becomes infectious.