The U.S. aid cuts in Afghanistan were as sudden as they were brutal. Even after the American withdrawal and the end of the war in 2021, the U.S. continued pouring money into Afghanistan. From the 2021 Taliban takeover until last year, Washington had provided nearly $1 billion annually. That funding has all but evaporated with the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development. While funding has shrunk, needs have increased. More than 2.8 million Afghan refugees were expelled or forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan last year and now live in communities struggling to absorb them. Two deadly earthquakes that struck the country last summer and fall left thousands homeless. Four million children are now at risk of dying from malnutrition, according to the World Food Program, the most in a quarter-century. The list goes on. On a recent 1,000-mile trip across Afghanistan, a team of New York Times journalists witnessed hardship wherever U.S. assistance has disappeared. Photos...