Sunday October 24th 2021
End of the Afghanistan mission
“It could have been a lot worse”
The last few days in Afghanistan have been a humiliation for the United States. The special representative for the country, who has just resigned, does not deny that. But it could have been much worse, he says now.
The chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan could have been even more devastating, according to the recently resigned US special envoy for the country. Zalmay Khalilzad told CBS: “I’m not saying it was an orderly retreat. It was an ugly closing phase, no doubt.” But Khalilzad also emphasized: “It could have been much worse. Kabul could have been destroyed. There could have been street fighting.”
The last US soldiers left Afghanistan at the end of August. Two weeks earlier, the Taliban had captured the capital Kabul without a fight because the Afghan security forces did not offer any resistance. Shortly before the end of the US evacuation mission, 13 US soldiers and dozens of Afghans were killed in an attack by the Islamic State terrorist group at Kabul airport.
Khalilzad resigned from his post as special envoy last Tuesday. One reason for this was that the debate about the withdrawal within the US government was “not really based on reality and facts,” said the top diplomat. US President Joe Biden decided not to make the withdrawal dependent on conditions, “but to follow a calendar”.
Biden left him in office
Khalilzad admitted that efforts to build democracy in Afghanistan had been “unsuccessful”. “This fight continues.” Since taking power, the militant Islamist Taliban have shown no intention of letting the people have a say in elections, for example.
The new US special envoy for Afghanistan is Khalizad’s previous deputy, Thomas West. Khalilzad (70) was appointed to the post by the administration of then US President Donald Trump in September 2018. After Biden’s election victory, the new government left the career diplomat in office. On Monday last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Khalilzad’s resignation.