The American envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, symbol of the bitter failure of the United States against the Taliban, is leaving office, announced Monday (October 18th) the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken.
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He is replaced by his deputy Thomas West, who was a White House adviser when Joe Biden was vice president, the secretary of state said in a brief statement.
The United States had announced earlier today that it would not participate in the talks on Afghanistan scheduled for Tuesday, October 19 in Moscow, in which Russia, China and Pakistan are to take part. These meetings “have been effective in the past. It’s just logistically difficult for us to take part in this week.US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
A “new phase” of diplomatic relations
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Zalmay Khalilzad defends his record but nevertheless makes a statement of failure. He also says he wants to move away during this “new phaseOf American policy towards Afghanistan. “The political deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban did not go as planned“, He writes, before adding:”the reasons for this are too complex, and I will be sharing my thoughts in the coming days and weeks».
A career diplomat, Afghan-born and 70-year-old Zalmay Khalilzad served as Washington’s representative in talks with the Taliban in Doha, which culminated in the February 2020 agreement providing for the withdrawal of US and foreign forces from it. country. Before reaching this agreement, described at the time as historic, he led for months of intense negotiations that took him from capital to capital, participated in summits in luxury hotels and gave lectures in many prestigious think tanks. Everywhere, he assured that the Taliban were ready to make concessions and find a compromise. In the end, he will have mainly contributed to the return of the Taliban and the death of the Afghan republic.
A fine negotiator
Born in Mazar-i-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan, he is fluent in Pashtun and Dari, the country’s two main languages. His career remains associated with “hawksOf the administration of George W. Bush of the early 2000s, to which he was close, in particular Vice President Dick Cheney. He held various positions at the State Department and the Pentagon before being a very influential United States Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, then occupying the same functions in Iraq. He gained a reputation as a fine negotiator.
United States Ambassador to the UN from 2007 to 2009, he then criticized President Barack Obama’s management of the Afghan war, in particular his decision to withdraw American troops. He returned to the forefront in 2018 under Donald Trump, appointed National Defense adviser to an administration that had decided to speak to the Taliban.
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On February 29, 2020 in Doha, the United States signed with great fanfare with the Taliban a historic agreement providing for the withdrawal of all foreign soldiers by May 1, 2021. The Taliban pledge not to attack the United States and their allies, but their other promises – cutting ties with Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups, and negotiating with the Afghan government – go unheeded.
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