Why Did the Architect of Afghanistan’s Collapse Become a Taliban Advocate?
By Ali Ahmad Babak, “Bazgasht”
Original article: "گرگی پیر در لباس میش"
In recent weeks, Zalmay Khalilzad — the Pashtun-born diplomat and former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan — published a text regarding a UN General Assembly resolution, once again attempting to portray himself as a concerned observer while shifting the blame for Afghanistan’s crisis onto others. But can his destructive and central role in handing Afghanistan over to the Taliban be hidden behind flashy statements? No.
The truth is that Khalilzad was not only one of the main architects of Afghanistan’s disaster, but even today he actively works to legitimize the Taliban. Despite his rhetoric about human rights, in practice, he has become an ally and a representative of a group that has dismantled girls’ education, silenced the media, and pushed millions of Afghans into poverty, exile, and silence.
Khalilzad’s role in the Doha negotiations (2018–2020) cannot be understated. These talks, centered around the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and a deal with the Taliban, effectively sidelined the legitimate government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and presented the Taliban as a formal and legitimate party, without demanding that they renounce violence, commit to elections, or respect human rights.
By turning a blind eye to the bitter realities of Afghanistan, Khalilzad empowered the very force that had terrorized the people for decades with bombs, assassinations, and ideological pressure. Through the Doha agreement, he paved the way for the Taliban’s bloodless takeover of Kabul, the collapse of the political system, and the disintegration of the Afghan army.
Today, Khalilzad speaks out against human rights abuses in countries like Iran and Pakistan. Yet, he supports a group that has banned girls' education, stripped women of their rights, and pursues a policy of oppression and elimination of dissent. He speaks of Afghanistan but fails to ask why the country reached this point. He does not admit that it was his own project that dismantled state institutions, disarmed the population against extremism, and handed the country over to the most reactionary force imaginable.
In reality, Khalilzad continues to push through media and political pressure for the international recognition of the Taliban, as if thousands of women victims of the group's misogynistic policies never existed, as if the silenced media and the generations deprived of schools and universities were mere illusions.
This seasoned politician, a traitor to both the United States and Afghanistan, has consistently acted as a lobbyist for the Taliban. Why? Because his current position — as analyst, mediator, adviser, and "expert" — depends entirely on the same backroom networks that keep the Taliban in power. He has now become the Taliban’s unofficial mouthpiece in the West, without an official title, yet with an active role in the media, backdoor meetings, and shaping global public opinion on the supposed “stability” of the Taliban.
Khalilzad now behaves as though he is part of the Taliban structure: defending them, justifying their demands, and concealing their atrocities by attacking other nations.
Perhaps no expression better describes Khalilzad than “an old wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Once seen by part of the Afghan elite as a symbol of hope and global mediation, he has become a key tool in solidifying backwardness and repression in Afghanistan.
He betrayed the blood of thousands of soldiers and civilians who stood in defense of the republic — and the millions of women and girls now deprived of education, work, and a future. He betrayed decades of international efforts to build a free Afghanistan, where every citizen and every ethnic group would have a voice.
It is time for Afghan intellectuals, civil society, media, and the diaspora around the world to expose Khalilzad’s deceitful and manipulative narratives. He speaks of justice and poverty while being an active partner in the oppression, injustice, and dictatorship that plague Afghanistan today.
Any recognition of the Taliban would be yet another betrayal of the Afghan people — and every platform that gives Khalilzad a voice is one more step toward distorting history.
