Khalilzad: US turns attention away from Afghanistan amid global competition
Khalilzad said that the US government shifted its focus to competition with major powers like China and Russia, hence no longer having any desire to remain in Afghanistan, and also because “Afghanistan was no longer the center of the fight against terrorism.”
He stated that the United States had no reason to stay in Afghanistan because it had lost hope of defeating the Taliban and confidence in the “weak and corrupt Afghan government.”
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US representative for Afghan peace affairs, defended the Doha agreement against sharp criticism from Republican members of Congress on Thursday.
Khalilzad said that the fall of the Afghan government accelerated with the rapid advance of the Taliban, and Ashraf Ghani’s escape from Afghanistan hindered talks with the government for a political transition. He added that if Ashraf Ghani had not fled, the Taliban would not have entered Kabul based on the previous agreement with America.
As previously stated by US officials, Khalilzad also admitted that the Biden administration did not expect Ghani’s government to collapse after the withdrawal of foreign forces “so quickly.” However, “this assumption, while reasonable at the outset, turned out to be wrong.”
He said that Biden rejected conditioning the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan on political agreements between the Taliban and the Ghani government or leaving limited forces in Afghanistan out of fear of prolonging the war.
Khalilzad said, “Exiting Afghanistan was not conditioned on a political agreement between the two Afghan sides. Because conditioning the exit risked being stuck in an endless war.”
The former US representative for Afghan peace affairs said that US officials understood the risks of the withdrawal of US forces from the country, the return of terrorist groups, and the loss of the achievements of two decades of Western presence in Afghanistan.
Khalilzad said that the United States has succeeded in weakening Al-Qaeda and has the aerial capability to monitor and strike terrorist groups. However, he said, “Maintaining a democratic government and the achievements of the previous two decades of the Afghan government was not possible for the United States in Afghanistan.”
He said, “Turning Afghanistan into a modern and democratic state was unrealistic. Despite extensive efforts by the United States, the country faced major governance issues and institutional corruption.”
Based on reports from the UN Security Council, terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS have grown in Afghanistan. Security Council experts particularly consider the expansion of ISIS’s influence in Afghanistan probable.
However, Khalilzad said that while the withdrawal of American forces was accompanied by turmoil and some American soldiers were killed in the ISIS attack at Kabul Airport, “these final days should not be a criterion for disregarding the achievements. Al-Qaeda is gone, and this is a great victory for US security.”
However, what will happen to Afghanistan? The response from the former US representative and signatory to the Doha agreement with the Taliban was, “The final chapter of Afghanistan has not yet been written. The seeds of the values we planted will bear fruit over time.”
The chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the resurgence of the Taliban, alongside affiliated terrorist groups, have sparked ire and harsh condemnation from Republicans in the US House of Representatives. This tumultuous exit was solidified by the signing of the Doha agreement on February 29, 2020.
Khalilzad’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee lacked fresh insights into the Doha agreement, America’s rationale for withdrawal, and the collapse of Ghani’s administration. Contrary to claims by some Afghan politicians, he refrained from mentioning any “secret agreements and annexes” related to the Doha accord.
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