Mike Pompeo Taps Top Envoy for Afghan Peace - Wall Street Journal

Foreign-policy veteran Zalmay Khalilzad served as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003-2005 and helped draft Afghan constitution

WASHINGTON—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad as the top envoy for Afghan peace on Tuesday, tapping a foreign-policy veteran who has been involved in the conflict for decades.

Mr. Pompeo, speaking en route to Pakistan, declined to specify a title for the role, but said Mr. Khalilzad will “be the State Department’s lead person” for peace talks.

Mr. Khalilzad has been involved on the U.S. foreign-policy scene in Afghanistan at virtually every major inflection point since the Soviet invasion during the 1980s, when he served as an adviser to the State Department.

He had a prominent role in the Bush administration during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, working on the team that helped established a new government during the Bonn Conference that year after the Taliban were ousted from power.

Mr. Khalilzad later also served as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003-2005 and helped draft the Afghan constitution, which the Taliban want to modify or scrap.

Mr. Pompeo said Mr. Khalilzad will work with John Bass, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, and Alice Wells, principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia.

Ms. Wells has been spearheading a recent U.S. push to engage the Taliban, making repeated trips to meet with the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Qatar, which serves as the group’s embassy.

The discussions were aimed at building trust, according to officials briefed on the meetings, but appeared to have made little progress after the Taliban refused to reciprocate a cease-fire offer by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last month.

Mr. Khalilzad was born in Afghanistan and spent the formative years of his life in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Laurel Miller, who served as the top U.S. representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan until June 2017, said the appointment would send a strong signal about the U.S. commitment to negotiating a peace deal.

“Doing something as difficult as negotiating peace doesn’t require an envoy but requires a clearly empowered official with this level of U.S. government backing and serious diplomatic experience,” said Ms. Miller, now a foreign-policy expert at Rand Corp.

Officials in both the Pentagon and State Department are under pressure to show signs of progress, as President Trump has long criticized the Afghan war and expressed a reluctance to keep troops in the country.

Mr. Khalilzad’s nomination for the job had been anticipated for weeks. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Pompeo made the announcement on the way to Pakistan, where he is scheduled to hold meetings with the new government. His arrival follows a U.S. decision to cancel $300 million in military aid to Islamabad.

The U.S. wants Islamabad to do more to fight terrorism and pressure the Taliban to enter into talks, as much of the group’s leadership lives freely in Pakistan.

Critics have questioned Mr. Khalilzad’s suitability for the role over his involvement in Afghan politics and hard-line views toward Pakistan. But supporters say his approach to Islamabad squares with the strong views held by the Trump administration. - Read More

Pompeo Taps Top Envoy for Afghan Peace - WSJ