It would destroy the city and the lives of millions of people

INTERVIEW.. Khalilzad: I pressured the Taliban hard so that the attack on Kabul would not lead to conflict

Zalmay Khalilzad.

archival

America's man in Afghanistan talked about the peace agreement with the "Taliban" movement, the recent withdrawal, and how things went.

The Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zalmay Khalilzad, discussed his country's efforts in this country and the failures that occurred.

Here are excerpts from an interview with Foreign Policy magazine:

• Tell us about the last days.

What happened when you were trying to form a transitional government?

•• Well, it was the last days when the Taliban approached Kabul.

I met the leader of the "Taliban", Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and his companions, and pressed them hard, so that an attack on Kabul would not lead to a conflict that would destroy the city and the lives of millions of people.

Five million people live in the capital.

It could lead to street strife, and this would contravene the agreement.

An important element of the agreement, which they consider sacred, explicitly provides for negotiations between the Taliban and other Afghans to form a new Islamic government.

• Did Baradar agree?

•• Baradar and the team that was with him.

I mean, many of the current cabinet ministers.

And the new government should be inclusive, but not 50-50 power-sharing, which we suggested to them at one point.

They agreed, but their argument was over who would be number one.

The Taliban leaders wanted to be number one and to replace President Ashraf Ghani with one, and Ghani refused to do so.

• When was this?

•• August 12 In the evening, Baradar called a meeting, and the commander of US Central Command, Frank McKenzie, was there, too, and wanted to talk to them.

So we met, and within two to three hours of President Ghani's announcement and approval, reports began that he had disappeared, that he had left the country, that he had left the palace.

So we met with Baradar and I introduced him to Frank, and the purpose of the meeting was to make it clear that his (Frank) mission, now, was to withdraw the rest of the American forces, and to do that, he was about to bring in more troops.

He did not want the Taliban to interfere in that, and if there was, we would vigorously defend ourselves;

We thought they should stay away from Kabul.

• In the past weeks or months, you have been trying to persuade Ghani to agree to a move.

In the end, not only did he move, he left.

Why was there no more pressure on him?

•• Many Afghans complain that we pushed him too much, and some say we didn't push him hard enough in the negotiations.

But we kept repeating to him, and you should see Secretary Anthony Blinken's message.

• You negotiated an exit from Afghanistan without the involvement of the Kabul government.

•• Before the negotiations, we wanted the Taliban and the government to sit down and negotiate with each other without any income on our part.

But the "Taliban" said that this government is illegitimate, and it is a "puppet" government, and it will not sit with it.

When I was an ambassador, we had a very ambitious agenda. There were no talks with the Taliban without their approval of the constitution, without severing ties with terrorists and renouncing violence.

• Do you feel that the Trump administration has cornered you in any way - such as the time frame?

•• The instructions of President Trump and (former) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were quite clear at the time.

• 20 or 21 years ago, was there anything you would have done differently that you wish you had more time to do?

•• It is clear that we have done relatively well in the fight against terrorism.

As you know, al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is not what it used to be.

Second, we had a very beneficial effect on Afghanistan.

People are living longer, better educated and better off.

The situation has changed in Afghanistan, and mainly in Kabul.

And in terms of building a vision - that of a democratic, self-sufficient and secure Afghanistan - I think we failed together.

We must learn from what happened.

Before the negotiations, we wanted the Taliban and the government to sit down and negotiate with each other without any income on our part.

But the "Taliban" said that this government is illegitimate, and it is a "puppet" government, and it will not sit with it.

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