Former White House envoy Khalilzad resigns from secretary of state

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Former White House envoy Khalilzad resigns from secretary of state

In an Oct. 18 resignation letter to Deputy Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in which he said he would step down on Tuesday, Mr. Khalilzad said that he was asked by his predecessors to join the Trump administration after the decision had been made to substantially reduce or end the military and economic burden of the Afghan engagement on the U.S. and to free those resources for vital priorities, including domestic needs and the challenge of dealing with issues related to China. Mr. Khalilzad, who long supported the vision of a more democratic, pluralistic and modernized Afghanistan, lamented in his letter that the political arrangement between the Afghan Government and the Taliban did not go as envisaged. The reasons for this are too complex and I will share my thoughts in the coming days and weeks, which he wrote after leaving Government Service.

As the Taliban stormed in August through the country capturing city after city, Mr. Khalilzad continued to negotiate with its leaders, urging them to negotiate a peaceful political transition and political power sharing agreement with the Afghan government. He was unable to do so before President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on August 15, saying that he feared for his life.

After the Taliban captured Kabul, Mr. Khalilzad helped facilitate safe passage for American civilians and at-risk Afghans. In all, 120,000 people were evacuated from the country.

A naturalized - American citizen, Mr. Khalilzad had a lifelong personal investment in the country he left for the United States first as a high school exchange student. He served as the White House envoy for Afghanistan and then Ambassador to the United States, if it had seemed appropriate to seek President George W. Bush for Afghan presidency.