Half a century of ambition, perseverance, pragmatism, climbing, ambiguity and navigating the corridors of American politics from its widest doors, winning the trust and appreciation of its leaders and engineers over 8 consecutive administrations, from President Reagan to the current administration headed by Joe Biden, until he became one of the largest strategic political advisors in the Southwest Asia region. And the Middle East, and at the forefront of the personalities to whom the difficult tasks of the US State Department are assigned, the last of which is the task of negotiating with the Taliban for 18 months, which ended with the withdrawal from Afghanistan and handing it over to the Taliban, within an agreement that some considered a failure par excellence, and a declaration of defeat for the United States against the Taliban, while others considered it A betrayal of the allies and partners of the United States and a coup against the values and principles on which it was based. As for Khalilzad and his ministry, they believe that they have achieved the goals of the American administration and the president's commitments to the American people.
Khalilzad's relationship with the neo-conservatives made him adopt many of their ideas, in his research, studies and seminars, which raised his score in political circles, especially in the Republic.
Arrow of love in Beirut
Khalilzad hails from a poor Afghani Pashtun family from Mazar-i-Sharif, and he visited the United States in 1966 for the first time he left Afghanistan, as part of an exchange program for high school students to California, to return full of fascination, great hopes and dreams, which soon began to come true without hindrances. Great, as he joined directly at the American University of Beirut, where he obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1974, and at the university met the student Cheryl Benard in 1972, who later became his wife.
He had two children: Alexander Bennard and Maximilian Benard, who bore the family name of his American wife, who is of Austrian descent. She holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Vienna, and is a senior researcher at the American RAND Corporation, a novelist and militant feminist activist, who advocates independence She published a number of novels, including a fictional novel in 2001 entitled “Turning On The Girls” that talks about a new world order in which women dominate the world, and several books were published for her, from Among them is the book “Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources and Strategies” published in 2004 AD, and she participated in the book “Building Moderate Islamic Networks” issued by the RAND Corporation 2007, and her husband participated in the book “God of God: The Islamic Republic of Iran” published in 1984 AD, after about 4 years of the Islamic revolution in Iran.
The Associated Press (AP) reported in September 2014 that the Austrian authorities had closed Bennard's bank accounts in the wake of the investigation of the competent authorities in the United States with her husband Khalilzad on suspicion of money laundering, amounting to one and a half million dollars, which was transferred from two men;
One in Iraq and the other in the Emirates.
Extraordinary leaps
After obtaining his master's degree, Zalmay Khalilzad moved to the United States to complete his graduate studies, to obtain a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago in 1979, and there he was influenced by the strategic thinker Albert Woolstetter, who specializes in the field of nuclear deterrence, and who opposes nuclear disarmament agreements.
He then worked as an assistant professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs until 1989, where he worked closely with strategic thinker Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to President Carter from 1977 to 1981.
Reports mention that during this period, Khalilzad was lured to the neo-conservative movement, after which he assumed many positions in the successive republican administrations, adopting its approach and committed to its orientations and preserving its interests. He was one of the strongest supporters of supporting the Afghan mujahideen in their fight against the Soviets in the 1980s, He was also a supporter of the US invasion of Afghanistan after the events of September 11, 2001 AD, as President George W. Bush appointed him as a special presidential envoy to Afghanistan at the end of 2001 AD, before he was appointed as the US ambassador there at the end of 2003 AD, holding all political threads in his hand, until he was transferred To Iraq in mid-2005 as the US ambassador there, to move again as the US delegate to the United Nations for the period between 2007 and 2009.
Khalilzad's relationship with the neo-conservatives made him adopt many of their ideas in his research, studies and seminars, which raised his score in political circles, especially the republic. On the letter sent by members of the Project for the New American Century to President Bill Clinton in January 1998, Clinton demanded to work to remove Saddam Hussein and his regime from power in Iraq using all diplomatic, political and military means. He also called for American hegemony over critical areas, and stressed that the United States would be ready to use force if necessary for this purpose. This matter may have played a role in President George W. Bush's selection in December 2002 AD, Khalilzad as Ambassador-at-Large to the Iraqis, to coordinate preparations for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
In addition, the events witnessed in the region of Southwest Asia and the Middle East, over the past four decades, since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan until now;
She played a major role in the brilliance of Zalmay Khalilzad's star, who is viewed by the concerned circles as his Afghani Pashtun Muslim background. Under President George HW Bush, he worked in the US Department of Defense as Deputy Undersecretary for Policy Planning.
Between 1993 and 2000, Khalilzad served as Director of Strategy, Doctrine, and Power Structure at the RAND Corporation, helped found the RAND Center for Middle Eastern Studies, presented dozens of research papers, and authored several notable studies that cemented his standing. In the executive and academic political circles, among these publications are:
From Containment to Leadership: America and the World After the Cold War, 1995.
The United States and a Rising China: Strategic and Military Implications, 1999.
The United States and Asia: Towards a New American Strategy and a Power of Position, 2001.
These publications and other research and participations reveal Khalilzad's intense immersion in the fundamentalist thought of the neo-conservatives, before writing his latest book, "The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey in a Turbulent World", 2016.
Khalilzad and the Taliban
In an article published in the Washington Post, in July 1996, Khalilzad called on the United States to deal with the Taliban, and that it was time for the United States to re-engage with it again, explaining that the Taliban was not practicing the anti-American fundamentalism practiced by Iran, but rather It is closer to the Saudi model, and he called on the United States to help the Taliban put Afghanistan on the path to peace, noting that continued violence was a cause of regional instability and an obstacle to building an oil and gas pipeline from Central Asia to Pakistan and global markets via Afghanistan.
In March 2000, Khalilzad re-talked about this matter, explaining that the American company Unocal, in which he works as an assistant, was interested in this project, but the company could not start due to the war, and it was Khalilzad who conducted the risk analysis study for this. The project, and the sources mention that he was then a big fan of the Taliban who were able to impose security on most of Afghanistan, but this admiration did not last long because of the dispute with the Taliban, and in June 2001, and 3 months before the events of “September 11” Khalilzad stressed that The United States should work to weaken the Taliban movement and stop its spread, and work to change the balance of power by providing assistance to its enemies, its opponents, and the moderate Islamic leaders.
After the overthrow of the Taliban regime, and in May 2002, the new Afghan, Turkmen and Pakistani leaders signed a gas pipeline deal with Unicol, immediately after the appointment of US President Khalilzad as a special envoy to Afghanistan, and he acted as its de facto president.
The interests of the United States and its companies in Afghanistan are not limited to the gas pipeline.
last scene
After 20 years, the American forces will withdraw from Afghanistan, based on an agreement to bring peace to Afghanistan, which the envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reached with the Taliban movement, after 18 months of shuttle negotiations, an agreement that sparked a lot of controversy in the political, military, and media circles of America and the world, as well as the Afghani . On May 18, at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on US policy in Afghanistan; Khalilzad downplayed the possibility of a quick Taliban takeover of power after the departure of US forces, saying that if the Taliban sought military victory, it would lead to a long war, because Afghan security forces would fight, other Afghans would fight, and neighbors would come to support different forces.He added, "Personally, I think that the statements that the Afghan forces will disintegrate, and that the Taliban will take over in a short time are wrong, and the real choices that the Afghans will face are between a long war and a negotiated settlement."
But none of these assessments happened, and Khalilzad will later find himself in front of the new US administration, in extreme embarrassment that is not commensurate with his history, knowledge and experience.
Khalilzad leaves the corridors of diplomatic work, concluding his life there, which spanned more than 45 years. He lived as an American academic researcher and a hard-line Republican politician, committed to the principles and values of the state, and dedicated to serving its interests, without forgetting his personal interests and aspirations that he planted in his consciousness 45 years ago. When he visits California when he is in high school, he leaves behind hundreds of questions and inquiries seeking answers to understand the mysterious chapters that are still closed to the seekers of the truth.
(Continued… Did the Taliban win?)