Khalilzad warns Afghan leaders against repeating past failures on Independence Day

Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, used the occasion of Afghanistan’s 106th Independence Day to issue a pointed warning to the country’s political elite.

In a message shared on X on Tuesday (August 19), he accused former Afghan leaders of seeking to revive their past privileges by falling back into the same mistakes that contributed to Afghanistan’s crises over the past two decades.

“Former leaders and elites who failed to seize major opportunities over the past two decades are now seeking ways to repeat their past mistakes and regain their former privileges,” Khalilzad wrote, stressing that Afghanistan’s future requires “a fundamental change in mindset.”

Khalilzad, who played a central role in negotiating the 2020 Doha Agreement between the United States and the Islamic Emirate, noted that the country has seen some improvements in recent years in areas such as security, counter-narcotics efforts, and infrastructure development.

However, he cautioned that these limited gains are overshadowed by deep economic hardship and the continued exclusion of women and girls from education and public life.

His comments come as Afghan political figures prepare to meet in Pakistan, a gathering Khalilzad has repeatedly dismissed as ineffective.

He argued that such conferences have historically produced little more than political posturing, without addressing the realities faced by Afghans inside the country.

Afghanistan marked its independence from British influence on August 19, 1919. The anniversary is traditionally celebrated as a moment of national pride.