Former top US diplomat reveals mistakes made after 9/11 attacks

Twenty-five years aft the attacks connected September 11, 2001, a erstwhile apical United States diplomat has outlined what helium feels were missteps made successful the aftermath.

In an interrogation connected Friday with writer Alex Marquardt for the Al Jazeera programme This is America, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad described however the country’s heightened consciousness of fearfulness led to a bid of spiralling decisions that would alteration the satellite for years to come.

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“Anger was a origin of urgency due to the fact that the radical wanted to spot action: What are we going to bash astir this?” Khalilzad said of the attacks.

The events of September 11 are considered the deadliest overseas onslaught successful US history. Nearly 3,000 radical died erstwhile 19 hijackers crashed rider jets into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a tract successful Pennsylvania.

Less than a period aft the attacks, the US launched an penetration of Afghanistan, with the stated purpose of attacking the radical responsible, al-Qaeda. It was the commencement of a astir 20-year-long war.

“You person to enactment yourself successful the discourse of the time. We were precise angry. We were acrophobic that different attacks whitethorn beryllium planned. There whitethorn beryllium sleeper cells,” Khalilzad said. “We wanted to get to arsenic galore radical – al-Qaeda members – to apprehension them.”

Khalilzad was a elder manager connected the National Security Council astatine the clip of the attacks, serving nether then-President George W Bush.

He aboriginal served successful respective ambassadorships, representing the US arsenic the apical diplomat successful Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations astatine assorted points successful his career.

In Friday’s interview, helium described having misgivings astir US argumentation toward Afghanistan, including the determination not to negociate with the Taliban, which ruled the state astatine the clip of the invasion.

Reports person since emerged that the Taliban was consenting to onslaught a woody with the US successful 2001, successful the aboriginal months of the war. But the US reportedly rejected the anticipation of a deal.

The Taliban fought US-backed forces for the adjacent 2 decades, until the US withdrawal successful 2021. Since then, it has retaken power.

“One thought that has emerged is that we should person negotiated with the Taliban oregon included the Taliban successful the governmental process successful Afghanistan,” Khalilzad said. “It would person been bully if that had happened.”

He credits the determination not to participate into negotiations to respective factors, including post-September 11 choler and the US’s presumption arsenic a planetary superpower.

“We were angry, and we wanted to get accusation from them,” Khalilzad said of the Taliban. “But if we could person included them … realistically, that could person been helpful.”

In 2003, 2 years aft the Afghanistan invasion, the US launched a abstracted cognition against Iraq arsenic portion of its increasing alleged “war connected terror”.

The Bush medication justified that warfare by citing now-infamous quality assessments that Iraq was connected the verge of obtaining “weapons of wide destruction”, including atomic capabilities. Those reports would aboriginal crook retired to beryllium false.

Still, the warfare successful Iraq would past much than 8 years and would effect successful the overthrow and execution of Iraqi person Saddam Hussein.

“With respect to Iraq, well, determination the accusation was the problem,” Khalilzad said, adding: “I think, successful retrospect, the circumstances, the analysis, the accusation was problematic.”

At the time, Khalilzad said, the US did not judge Hussein had been truthful astir whether his state possessed weapons of wide destruction. The US besides feared different “surprise attack”, akin to what al-Qaeda had launched.

“Without 9/11, I don’t deliberation we volition onslaught Iraq,” Khalilzad said.

He explained that the US authorities believed that, if “this occupation of Saddam Hussein is besides allowed to percolate”, the state could “face a immense astonishment and attack”.

“Containment evolved into monolithic onslaught and overthrowing of the regime,” Khalilzad said.

In August, the US marked 5 years since its chaotic subject withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The process began successful 2020, erstwhile President Donald Trump, during his archetypal term, signed a woody with the Taliban to propulsion retired each US troops by the pursuing year. It was completed during the presidency of Joe Biden successful 2021.

The withdrawal was wide criticised for putting troops astatine hazard and leaving down Afghans who had worked with US-allied forces and who were truthful astatine hazard of unit and punishment.

For his part, Khalilzad said helium agreed with the determination to propulsion US troops from the country.

“We had been determination for 20 years. Afghanistan was changed. The warfare could person gone connected indefinitely. The satellite had changed. Priorities had changed. We decimated the violent threat. That’s what had driven us,” helium said.

Shortly aft US forces near the country, the US-backed Afghan authorities fell, and the Taliban returned to powerfulness successful Afghanistan.

But Khalilzad argued the caller narration has been affirmative for the US: “I deliberation the Taliban, surprisingly, person been bully successful presumption of coercion for the United States interests.”