RASC News Agency: Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and a key proponent of the Taliban, has dismissed the findings of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. Today, Monday, September 9, the Republican-led committee, under the chairmanship of Michael McCaul, is set to release a report that severely criticizes President Joe Biden’s administration for the chaotic and deadly U.S. exit from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Khalilzad, who was instrumental in negotiating the February 2020 peace agreement with the Taliban, has criticized the report in a post on “X” (formerly known as Twitter). He stated: “I have read a preview of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s majority report on Afghanistan, shared by CBS News. The report claims that U.S. military personnel were kept out of the loop during negotiations with the Taliban. If this claim is indeed part of the report – which has not been fully released yet – it is patently false.”
Khalilzad emphasized that the Doha Agreement laid the groundwork for historic negotiations between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban. However, he acknowledged that despite numerous meetings, the desired outcome a mutual agreement for a new government under President Ghani’s leadership was never realized. He also rejected accusations that the former Afghanistan government was deliberately excluded from peace talks, labeling such claims as “baseless.”
He further noted the skepticism surrounding Afghanistani leaders, who were expected to prioritize personal interests over a realistic national compromise. Khalilzad suggested that their reluctance to reach a deal extended the financial and human costs for Americans. The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report is critical of the Biden administration for its delayed response in evacuating civilians from Afghanistan. According to “Reuters”, the report identifies communication breakdowns within Washington and between U.S. officials and their counterparts in Afghanistan, as well as delays in processing the paperwork of eligible Afghanistani citizens seeking evacuation. The findings are the result of a three-year investigation led by Representative Michael McCaul.
The report states: “America’s credibility on the global stage was severely damaged, as we abandoned our Afghanistani allies to the Taliban’s retribution those we had pledged to protect.” As the U.S. presidential election looms on November 5, the Afghanistan withdrawal has emerged as a central political issue. Khalilzad’s outright rejection of the report’s relatively balanced findings underscores his consistent support for the Taliban’s resurgence. He has long framed their return to power as an inevitability that aligned with U.S. interests, maintaining that their reinstatement was a key aspect of Washington’s broader strategy in the region.
