When you’re fighting a war, you never give your enemy a timetable for withdrawing troops.

If you do, your enemy can simply wait you out. Once all the troops are gone, the enemy will take advantage of the vacuum and press their advantage.

We have watched as then-Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and now President Joe Biden set dates for pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.

Most recently, Biden said he will keep thousands of U.S. forces in the country beyond the May 1 exit deadline that the Trump administration negotiated last year with the Taliban.

Biden said he plans to have all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11 this year. The U.S. currently has about 3,500 troops serving in that country, and Biden said a very small contingent of troops would be left there to guard U.S. diplomats.

We agree with Biden that being in a war for nearly 20 years is a very, very long time. But when you go to war, you should go to win rather than losing by default.

Much progress has been made in Afghanistan during our 20 years there. The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, was killed in 2011 by members of SEAL Team 6. Free and fair elections took place, and a new democratic government was formed. Al-Qaida was essentially driven out, but the Taliban became a force to be reckoned with after initially being down on their heels.

The withdrawal policy set forth by Biden is simply reckless. With this premature withdrawal, has Biden considered what could happen to the Afghan people who aided U.S. and coalition forces during this conflict?

Apparently not.

When the American troops leave, those who aided them will be targeted by the Taliban and likely will be severely punished if not slaughtered.

Don’t these lives matter, too?

We believe so.

The Taliban could once again take over the country, which would be a nightmare for the Afghan people who don’t share their dark vision for the country.

And what will happen to the women of Afghanistan?

Under Taliban rule, women were treated like something out of the dark ages. They were forced to wear burkas, they had to be escorted out of a house by a male relative and women doctors weren’t even allowed to practice.

Now, thanks to our brave troops in the field, all of those things are in the past and women in Afghanistan are afforded many rights and privileges that weren’t available to them under the earlier Taliban rule.

These accomplishments for women will be taken away if the Taliban should prevail.

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Biden’s withdrawal plan “reckless” and “a grave mistake. It is retreat in the face of an enemy that has not yet been vanquished and abdication of American leadership.” McConnell said withdrawing American troops would be “gift wrapping the country and handing it right back” to U.S. adversaries.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said leaving Afghanistan would allow the country to become a haven for terrorists or lead to civil war. U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R- Okla., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the decision “outrageous.”

We couldn’t agree more with these three senators’ assessments of Biden’s plan.

Have we forgotten already that the Islamic State caliphate arose in Iraq and Syria in the aftermath of a troop withdrawal in Iraq during the Obama-Biden administration?

This is something that we can ill-afford to happen in Afghanistan.

If it does, it’s on Biden. He’ll own it, and he will have to figure out what to do if the Taliban regain control and provide a haven for al-Qaida once again.