“Over the last three days, over 250 foreign nationals, including dozens of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, departed Kabul unhindered on Qatari flights. This is positive,” Tweeted  Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy who is being “accused” for the Taliban’s forcible takeover of Afghanistan.

The 70-year-old Afghan born US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, who convinced  the successive US presidents to withdraw their troops promising them of a latent  peace deal with a “changed” Taliban.  After keeping low after critics blamed him for the Afghan chaos, he is back praising the Taliban for their “positive” approach. Khalilzad is whitewashing the fact that the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has virtually mounted a coup in Afghanistan by positioning their clients, the banned Haqqani network in the core of the Taliban-led “caretaker” government.

1/3 Over the last three days, over 250 foreign nationals, including dozens of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, departed Kabul unhindered on Qatari flights. This is positive.

— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) September 10, 2021

“Our thanks go out to Qatar for its help facilitating these flights, and we welcome the Taliban’s cooperation in this important effort. We will continue to engage the government of Qatar, the Taliban, and others to ensure the safe passage of our citizens, other foreign nationals, and Afghans that want to leave,” Khalilzad said.

Many Afghans have been slamming Khalilzad on his posts, calling him a “traitor” and holding him responsible for their miseries.

“Hey Zal, @FBI is looking for Serajudin (Haqqani). Maybe you can clue them in? Oh wait, you are not selling your alli for only $10M. “

“Sorry to interrupt Zal! Never mind,” replied one Afghan netizen. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new interior minister of the Taliban government, has a bounty of $10 million on his head.

Hey Zal, @FBI is looking for Serajudin. Maybe you can clue them in? Oh wait, you are not selling your alli for only $10M.
Sorry to interrupt Zal! Never mind.

— Mostafa (@Mostafa_se7en) September 11, 2021

“Look at what you did to Afghanistan. Look at what happened to the fate of 35 million people,” commented one Afghan in her reply.

Look at what you did to Afghanistan. Look at what happened to the fate of 35 million people.

— Rozina Sediqi (@Rozina1212) September 11, 2021

According to experts, it was Khalilzad’s personal relations with the top leaders of the Taliban which helped the US in evacuations. The world witnessed how the Taliban took over Kabul by force, followed by the mayhem and disgraceful departure of the US.

Also Read: Is US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad responsible for the failure of “Mission Afghanistan”?

“How does he still have a job?" a senior US official asked. "There is no longer any Afghan reconciliation left,” he told Reuters on the condition of anonymity. According to the official Khalilzad “relinquished American leverage to Taliban, continuously undermined the then Afghan government, and had little interest in hearing different viewpoints within the US government”.

Now the world is witnessing a tragedy playing out live and proof of an American foreign policy disaster.

While the Biden administration still believes that Khalilzad could still play an important role as an interlocutor to the Taliban, critics both inside and outside of the US say that enough damage has been done in Afghanistan because of Khalilzad’s short sightedness and incompetence in handling such a sensitive assignment.

Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in his opinion piece in the  Washington Examiner has not minced words in calling for Khalilzad’s recall.

“It is time to recall Khalilzad home. His judgment proved wrong, and he has lost control of the process. Rather than interfere where Afghans no longer want him, it is time to investigate the intelligence failures, poor assumptions, and misjudgements that tainted the peace process from day one. Khalilzad should spend his days at Senate hearings answering questions about what went wrong and why,” he wrote last month.

Many US lawmakers, too, are asking for Khalilzad’s removal. Congressman, Michael Waltz, an Afghanistan war veteran, wrote to Biden last month, “Ambassador Khalilzad has provided you with poor counsel and his diplomatic strategy has failed spectacularly. In light of this catastrophe, Ambassador Khalilzad should resign immediately or be relieved from his position.”

He said, “Tell the hundreds of Americans stranded in Afghanistan & the family members of those killed by the Taliban that they're "business-like. When will Biden & Blinken wake up to the fact that the Taliban are brutal thugs that only understand strength, leverage & bullets on foreheads?”

It has been an open secret that Khalilzad has many friends in Pakistan’s ISI  and the Pakistani army including Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The ISI has a history of cultivating top US diplomats including Khalilzad, known for his lavish lifestyle. Khalilzad had  once nurtured hopes of becoming the President of Afghanistan.