Kabul shit going down.
US had only 2500 troops in Afghanistan. Another 7500 allied troops. Plus contractors. If that small a contingent meant the difference between having Afghanistan as an ally, a nascent democracy, with women's rights. That seems worth it compared to allowing the Taliban back in control, Afghanistan again an enemy and potential thorn in our side, harsh sharia deployed, women's rights removed. Not to mention the fate of those who worked with the US.
Increasingly the fighting in the countryside could have been remote and robotic. the US supplying logistics and airpower.
The Taliban could have been given significant autonomy in the Pashtun south.
The US has had troops in Germany, Korea, Japan, Philippines for half a century or more. Maybe instead of focusing on the difficulties of changing Afghanistan, I'd look more at stopping things from reverting back to a medieval Islamic empire, which is is a terrible fate for most Afghanis, while almost certain to embolden various Islamic groups from the Sahara to the Middle East.