Talk:Zalmay Khalilzad

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Contents 1 Needs Reworking 2 Bias, word choice, etc. 3 Context 4 Deleted incorrect citation 5 Terrorist Sunni Muslim 6 Succession Tables 7 name

[edit] Needs Reworking

This article needs to be reworked in its entirety, preferably by an expert. The comment about Wohlstetter seems to imply the exact opposite of what Wohlstetter stood for (at least according to the article on Wohlstetter imself).

Khalilzad does not have Cabinet status -- see whitehouse.gov for the list of officials at this level. To say he does is a serious error.Mjameswilkinson 20:02, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

According to whitehouse.gov you are right, but according to Presidency of George W. Bush UN ambassador counts, United States Ambassador to the United Nations says that although he must be confirmed by the Senate, he's got the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary...as well as being the representative of the United States in all plenary meetings of the General Assembly where a superior officer of the United States (e.g. the U.S. Secretary of State or the President of the United States) is not present (a rare situation). Questioning81 02:19, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bias, word choice, etc.

Recent voluminous additions by 67.115.133.240 [1] appear to be at times not NPOV, uncited/uncitable, perhaps copied verbatim from elsewhere, and unencyclopedic (viz., "Condolezzie Rice", "the prez"). Subsequent clean-up by User:Everyking does not remove the bulk of this troubled mass. I'd previously removed most, left by similar IP 67.115.132.155 [2] and would prefer to revert to my last revision [3], but am unsure how to do this, especially in light of Everyking's contributions since. Advice requested. In mean time POV template has been placed. --Derek 18:13, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

The edits were problematic but seemed to be adding content so I didn't revert. But if you want to revert it, don't let the fact that I did subsequent clean-up stop you. Everyking 18:21, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, done. --Derek 21:27, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

-- "RAND is a right-wing think-tank, created just after World War II in connection with high rankinn officers from the armed forces and now cloesely linked to the neoconservatives (Donald Rumsfeld for instance)." -How objective is this? Walter Mondale, for example, is also one of the trustees. Might want to take a look. [update: A quick look at the entry's general sources reinforces suspicions.] --

Why is it important to point out that he is the highest-ranking native Afghan and Muslim in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush? This doesn't really make any difference in my opinion. ---WSL---

Yes it is important. Some people may be surprised that there are any Muslims are in the Bush administration. On another topic, I think that some of the section on his recent activity in Iraq is very pov, particularly the statement about him being truly hated in Iraq. Academic Challenger 20:25, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I have a question: has Khalilzad ever identified himself as a Muslim. If yes, then there must at least be a a source for that. Having an Afghan sounding name isn't good enough for identifying someone a Muslim. WestendRaider 17:06, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Context

Is the following line currently in the article appropriate? Does it not run the risk of being taken out of context--since it indeed, is the only sentence from the referenced study quoted?:

Khalilzad co-authored the RAND study, "The United States and a Rising China", which included the line, "Of course, US armed forces must be prepared to defeat China militarily

--198.59.190.201 01:13, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Deleted incorrect citation

I got curious and found a copy of "The United States and a Rising China" and found that the citation on the article page is incorrect. The original is:

Of course, US armed forces must be prepared to defeat China militarily if it threatens vital U.S. interests.

Whereas on the page it was written as:

Of course, US armed forces must be prepared to defeat China militarily.

I think that the citation was incorrect. The article is available at [4]. Julius.kusuma 15:04, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Terrorist Sunni Muslim

Many reports in Iraq say that Khalilzad has asked Sunni insurgents to kill and behead Shia citizens. How does The United States Senates agreed to put this terrorist as US ambassador to UN?

Hmm...funny that everyone seems to love him at the UN and no one seems to be bringing up terrorist lnks. Makes me question how reliable are the "many reports in Iraq" you mentioned.

In the section References there is a reference to the following article,

July 17, 2007 2:40 PM

Exploiting the Confessional Turning the tide against Iran.

Alexander Benard

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjNjNWNiZDhiZDM5MzU5YTk2MjVkOGM2NjUyZmJlYmQ=

In this article is no reference whatsoever to Zalmay Khalilzad, so what is the relevance of this article for the Zalmay Khalilzad entry?

I cleared up the link description, but i do agree that the relevance may be questionable, although the link shows that the son is following his dad's lead. Questioning81 02:42, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Succession Tables

Why the diplomatic posts both under his picture (like Thomas R. Pickering) and at the bottom (like Ryan Crocker). Should be on the bottom for consistency. Mikebar 18:52, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] name

Though Zalmay Khalilzad is a Pashtun, his last name is Persian and not Pashto. "Khalilzad" means "of (the family) Khalil". The Pashto equivalent would be "Khalilzay". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.82.143.168 (talk) 02:52, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Khalilzad is a Pashto name, it means descendant (kinship and descent) of Khalil, it may also be used as Khalilzada or Khalilzai (son of Khalil), depends on how one wants to pronounce it in their region. His first name "Zalmay" is also Pashto and it originted as meaning a baby lamb.--203.175.65.183 (talk) 22:14, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

The ending "-zad" is Persian. The related Pashto equivalent is "-zay". The discussion is irrelevant anyway, because Khalilzad's first language is Persian and not Pashto. According to KabulPress, there is no public record of Khalilzad ever speaking in coherent Paxtu, language of the Paxtuns. [5] According to The Guardian, his mother tongue is Dari, which differs little from Farsi. [6] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.83.136.107 (talk) 00:21, 6 March 2008 (UTC)