U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan departs as Taliban peace efforts remain stalled
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Version 0 of 1. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — U.S. Ambassador John R. Bass is ending his two-year tenure in Afghanistan Monday as peace talks with the Taliban remain stalled. The State Department said in a statement Monday that “Ambassador Bass’s departure is long-planned and part of the normal rotation cycle.” The departure of the top American diplomat in Afghanistan comes as American and Taliban negotiators are once again trying to revive efforts to reach a peace deal. During a surprise visit to Afghanistan in November, President Trump announced peace efforts had “made tremendous progress.” A peace agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of thousands of American troops, a key Trump campaign promise. American and Afghan government officials are asking the Taliban to commit to a reduction in violence before talks are formally restarted. Over the course of Bass’s tenure, peace efforts with the Taliban gained steam and at several points a deal appeared imminent. In September, Taliban and American negotiators agreed on a framework that would have seen the withdrawal of American troops in exchange for a Taliban pledge not to harbor terrorist groups with ambitions to attack the United States. That draft deal was called off by Trump after a Taliban attack killed an American service member. More recently, after a prisoner swap helped bring the two sides back to the negotiating table, a Dec. 11 Taliban attack on the highly fortified U.S. Bagram air base derailed talks once again. “My earnest hope is for leaders and citizens across this country to find strength in unity, put aside their differences, and work together to negotiate a political settlement with the Taliban. Afghans and this beautiful country deserve nothing less,” Bass said in a farewell message posted to Twitter on Monday. 2/3 My earnest hope is for leaders and citizens across this country to find strength in unity, put aside their differences, and work together to negotiate a political settlement with the Taliban. Afghans and this beautiful country deserve nothing less. While efforts to reach a peace deal were the most high-profile diplomatic effort during Bass’s tenure, the ambassador spoke out against corruption and publicly criticized Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency for employing “Soviet-style tactics.” Bass recently said he was “disturbed” by reports that a former bank manager convicted of multimillion-dollar fraud was moved from prison to house arrest after making a large campaign donation to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. “This action, along with the continued failure to execute warrants for those accused of corruption, calls into question the government’s commitment to combating #corruption and making best use of donors’ support,” Bass said in a tweet. His comments were met with swift criticism from the Afghan president’s office. This action, along with the continued failure to execute warrants for those accused of corruption, calls into question the government’s commitment to combating #corruption and making best use of donors’ support. 2/2 A career Foreign Service officer, Bass served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey from 2014 to 2017, U.S. ambassador to Georgia from 2009 to 2012, and in U.S. missions in Iraq, Italy, Belgium and Chad, according to his State Department biography. “As diplomats we rarely stay long enough in a country to see and experience the whole story. We arrive in the middle of a tale and we learn about the chapters we missed,” Bass said in a farewell video posted to the U.S. Embassy Kabul Facebook page. Bass added that no one “knows how this story, this chapter in the larger tale of this country and its people will end,” but he said hopes for a more peaceful future. The State Department announced Ambassador Ross Wilson has been named chargé d’affaires until a new ambassador is confirmed and is expected to arrive in Kabul soon. Deputy Chief of Mission Karen Decker will serve as chargé until Wilson’s arrival. Inside the Taliban’s Afghanistan, violence remains the path to power U.S. military acknowledges allegations of civilian deaths in Afghanistan airstrike The Taliban vowed massive attacks on election day. Here’s how Afghanistan avoided them. Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news |