campaign trail. how much does that potentially factor in here in terms of the way the administration responds to this? and also, just kind of messages on this? >> yeah, joshua, i think you are really seeing two different aspects of -- of joe biden's political personality here. one is his capacity for empathy. the -- the uncle-joe persona that -- that many people find very winning and that has been a feature of his political life for -- for decades. the other is his stubbornness. joe biden believes that he has been right all along. that the afghanistan war has long since ceased being worth fighting. that nation building doesn't work. and that americans need to get out of there. those two parts of his political makeup are, to some degree, in conflict over this issue. because it is impossible to say, at the same time, that we are ending this war cleanly and neatly.