my colleague yalda hakim has more on this story.t part of a meeting, a delegation that went to meet with the taliban in doha a few weeks ago, and that's when i think for many of us who watch afghanistan very closely, we got a sense that, you know, either he's stepping down or he himself has chosen not to be part of that meeting. he is being replaced by his deputy, tom west, and that was announced by the us secretary of state. he has been engaged with afghanistan, not only an afghan—born us diplomat, but engaged in that country's politics for at least five decades. we mustn't forget that he was one of the... well, the first us representative to afghanistan post—9/ii, and then of course he became the first ambassador to afghanistan for the united states. and they were the good years. that's how people refer to those early years. there was a lot of money, there was a lot of opportunities, a lot of prospects for people to take on big projects, and he was behind many of the big projects. i mean, he speaks to me about freedom of the press