Inside John Kerry’s Diplomatic Save in Afghanistan | TIME:
As they headed to a midnight press conference, officials present say
the men seemed to take pride in an agreement that had spared their
country the threat of a nightmarish descent into chaos.
On July 16, President Obama opened his press conference announcing
new economic sanctions against Russia by congratulating his Secretary of
State for brokering the Afghan deal. Obama said it had preserved “the
first democratic transfer of power in the history of that nation.”
In a conversation the day after Kerry’s departure, Ghani shared his
relief over the outcome. The agreement, he said, may have saved one
million Afghan lives.