Special representative resigns
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation resigned on October 18th. Khalilzad served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and, briefly, President Barack Obama.
He decided it was time to step down because “we are entering a new phase in our Afghanistan policy.
“I was asked by the former president to negotiate our withdrawal from Afghanistan and get commitments from the Taliban. … That has been achieved. We are out. Our longest war is over,” said Khalilzad. He was appointed in 2018 by former President Donald Trump as a negotiator on the withdrawal.
Khalilzad claims the decision was “made by the presidents, with President Obama, to negotiate directly with the Taliban.” And to leave the Afghan government out of the negotiations.
In an October 23rd CBS “Face the Nation” interview Khalilzad claims there could still be hundreds of Americans in the country.
“Truth of the matter is, we don’t know … but my judgment is there could still be hundreds of Americans there,” Khalilzad said.
