Zalmay Khalilzad sticks by his Taliban deal, says the U.S. should have pressed President Ghani harder – By Margaret Brennan & Camilla Schick (CBS News) / Oct 23 2021
In his first interview since resigning as the U.S.’s chief negotiator with the Taliban, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad strongly defended the deal he negotiated to withdraw U.S. troops from America’s longest war, but told “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan that he objected to the direction of the Biden administration’s current Afghanistan policy.
“One reason I left the government is that the debate wasn’t really as it should be based on realities and facts of what happened, what was going on and what our alternatives were,” Khalilzad told Brennan.
The long-time diplomat refrained from directly criticizing President Biden, whom he considers to be a friend. However, he made clear that the withdrawal that he negotiated, known as the Doha Agreement, was meant to be “conditions-based” rather than driven by a calendar date.
