Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Zalmay Khalilzad states that the initial steps towards negotiations with the Taliban were taken under the Obama administration, not the Donald Trump administration.
Khalilzad says that during the Obama era, he received a letter from Mullah Yaqoob, stating that war does not have a military solution, and the Taliban seeks its end.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee broadcast Zalmay Khalilzad’s testimony, the former US representative for Afghanistan, on Thursday, May 2nd, on its official X page. These remarks are part five of a series of interviews conducted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led by Michael McCaul, with US State Department officials involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal program.
Mr Khalilzad, in his testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that for the Biden administration, there were three options regarding the Doha agreement: not insisting on the conditional agreement and emphasizing withdrawal and counterterrorism, breaking the agreement similar to Trump’s nuclear deal with Iran, and ultimately accepting the conditional Doha agreement.
Khalilzad states that President Biden did not choose the option of conditional withdrawing forces from Afghanistan.
The former US special representative for Afghanistan added that he had recommended accepting the conditional Doha agreement and believes Secretary of State Antony Blinken had also recommended it. However, according to Khalilzad, other individuals in the US government refrained from accepting their recommendations, arguing that the Taliban were resuming attacks on US forces.
However, both Khalilzad and Blinken supported the unconditional withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
The former US special representative for Afghanistan said that the White House and the National Security Council led the full troop withdrawal process in 2021. During August, when the deadly evacuation took place, important decisions regarding engagement with the Taliban were made by the Biden National Security Council.
Khalilzad said that the Trump administration had three priorities for negotiations with the Taliban: negotiating an agreement that would facilitate a safe and orderly withdrawal, ensuring that Afghanistan did not revert to a haven for terrorist organizations, and the necessity of intra-Afghan negotiations.
According to a document released by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Khalilzad insisted on the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners during the summer of 2020, arguing that the Taliban would not engage in talks with the Afghan government without the release of their prisoners.
Khalilzad, the Secretary of State, and others agreed on the need for confidence-building measures demanded by the Taliban before intra-Afghan talks. The Afghan government sought parity in prisoner exchanges.