Former US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad called the claim of Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee, about his responsibility for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, unsubstantiated.
Khalilzad acknowledged that the final stage of the withdrawal was a disaster, but stressed that the main reason was a lack of intelligence.
According to Khalilzad, US officials did not anticipate that the Afghan government would simply collapse or that its military would be fundamentally disintegrated before US troops leave.
Michael McCaul has previously blamed 15 US officials, including Zalmay Khalilzad, for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He mentioned President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, the secretaries of defence and foreign affairs, and Zalmay Khalilzad.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy for the Afghan peace talks, wrote on Wednesday night, in response to Michael McCaul's remarks on social media platform X that he had not commented on the Taliban's adherence to their commitments and respect for basic human rights.
Zalmay Khalilzad said that the Doha agreement had nothing to do with human rights and instead focused on a safe military withdrawal, preventing the Taliban from attacking US forces and preventing terrorists from using Afghan soil against the United States.
He clarified that President Biden decided not to make the US withdrawal from Afghanistan conditional on an intra-Afghan political agreement, and he feared that with the prolongation of intra-Afghan negotiations, the Taliban's attacks against US forces would resume.
McCall claimed that Zalmay Khalilzad had assured that the Taliban would abide by their commitments and respect human rights.
However, Khalilzad emphasises in his statement that he did not make any comments about the Taliban's adherence to their human rights obligations during his tenure.
"When I was asked in various congressional committees whether I trusted the Taliban to fulfil their commitments on military issues and terrorism, I replied that we were talking about international relations, an arena where no one could be trusted, especially the Taliban," he wrote.
Zalmay Khalilzad also wrote that the peace talks were not a matter of trust, and that the agreement that was negotiated was based on conditions, not trust. He added that the agreement makes the fulfilment of US commitments conditional on the Taliban fulfilling their commitments, and this issue must be continuously evaluated and confirmed.
US House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said that the Doha agreement between Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban was a slap in the face to the Afghan government. He called the agreement a mistake by Zalmay Khalilzad, which had a negative impact on the morale of the previous Afghan government, adding that Khalilzad "negotiated with the Taliban and left out the Afghan government”.
