WASHINGTON — General Kenneth Franklin McKenzie, the former commander of the United States Central Command, has condemned the Doha agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban, stating that it “killed Afghanistan” and “destroyed” the former Afghan government.
Speaking on the ramifications of the 2020 agreement, Gen. McKenzie emphasized that it set a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a policy objective maintained by both Presidents Trump and Biden.
“There were procedures in the Doha agreement—if we had respected them—that would have required the Taliban to do certain things in return,” McKenzie said. “We did not enforce those requirements, and effectively, the Doha agreement became the operational mechanism that killed Afghanistan and destroyed its government.”
Gen. McKenzie asserted that the U.S. was determined to leave Afghanistan regardless of the cost, which significantly undermined the Afghan government. “Both presidents, despite their differences, shared the policy objective of leaving Afghanistan, irrespective of the consequences,” he noted.
The U.S. led NATO forces ended their 20-year presence in Afghanistan in August 2021. The chaotic exit has faced severe criticism both domestically and internationally.
