Former Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Rasoul Mousavi criticized a recent meeting of former U.S. officials on Washington’s future policy in Afghanistan, stating that the U.S. has not learned lessons from the war in Afghanistan and continues to discuss intervention without understanding its purpose.
The meeting, hosted by the Global and National Security Institute at the University of Florida, included former officials from Afghanistan and the United States to assess America’s future engagement in Afghanistan.
Mousavi, in a social media post on X, remarked, “The U.S. fought in Afghanistan for 20 years without understanding why, and it still hasn’t learned. Now, it talks about intervention again, still not knowing why.”
During the meeting, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai sent a brief message, while figures like General Frank McKenzie, former U.S. CENTCOM Commander, and Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, addressed various aspects of U.S. involvement.
General McKenzie described the U.S. war in Afghanistan as a “necessity” for combating terrorist groups.
He admitted military mistakes, such as the failure to kill Osama bin Laden early on, and argued that the U.S. should have focused on counterterrorism rather than building a government in Afghanistan.
Khalilzad emphasized the potential of the Doha Agreement as a framework for U.S. cooperation with the Taliban, stating that while expectations should be tempered, the agreement still holds value for collaboration.
The discussions at the meeting underscored the complex and often controversial nature of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, with key figures reflecting on past mistakes and proposing frameworks for future engagement.
Notably, the Taliban has not commented on the issues discussed so far.
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