Kabul (Web Desk): Former US special representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has said that the US was losing the war to the Taliban, so it chose peace negotiations as an alternative.
In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” show, Khalilzad said the US military tried many times to strengthen its position on the battleground, but failed.
Khalilzad, who had stepped down as special Afghan envoy earlier this month, said the Taliban were in discussions with him about forming a power-sharing government and including some officials of the Ghani administration in the next setup. All these things did not happen because Ghani did not stay, he said.
“The negotiation was a result of — based on the judgment that we weren’t winning the war and therefore time was not on our side and better to make a deal sooner than later.” Khalilzad blamed the then-president Ashraf Ghani for the disintegration of Afghanistan’s security sector, saying his escape triggered chaos in the Afghan capital.
Khalilzad said the US wanted a different outcome for Afghan peace talks, preferably a power-sharing government with the Taliban instead of what happened on August 15.
