United States Ambassador to Afghanistan Information & United States Ambassador to Afghanistan Links at HealthHaven.com

Karl Eikenberry, 2009-current

This is a list of United States ambassadors to Afghanistan. Prior to 1948, Afghanistan was not considered important enough to have a full ambassador, so a Minister Plenipotentiary was sent instead. From 1979 to 1989, Afghanistan did not have an official ambassador and was instead served by a lower-ranking chargé d’affaires. From 1981 to 2002, there was no official embassy in Kabul due to internal security problems eventually including the Taliban government.

William H. Hornibrook (1935–1936) - Minister Plenipotentiary
Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. (1940–1942) - Minister Plenipotentiary
Cornelius Van Hemert Engert (1942–1945) - Minister Plenipotentiary
Ely E. Palmer (1945–1948) - Minister Plenipotentiary
Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. (1949–1951) - First formal ambassador
George Robert Merrell (1951–1952)
Angus I. Ward (1952–1956)
Sheldon T. Mills (1956–1959)
Henry A. Byroade (1959–1962)
John M. Steeves (1962–1966)
Robert G. Neumann (1966–1973)
Theodore L. Eliot, Jr. (1973–1978)
Adolph Dubs (1978–1979) - Killed while in office.

Following the death of Mr. Dubs, there were no formal Ambassadors from the United States until after the War in Afghanistan.

J. Bruce Amstutz (1979–1980) - US Deputy Chief of Mission, then chargé d'affaires
Hawthorne Q. Mills (1980–1982) - chargé d'affaires
Archer K. Blood - appointed in 1982, but rejected by Afghanistan government
Charles F. Dunbar - (1982–1983) - chargé d'affaires
Edward Hurwitz (1983–1986) - chargé d'affaires
James Maurice Ealum (1986–1987) - chargé d'affaires
Jon D. Glassman (1987–1989) chargé d'affaires" - embassy closed after Soviet Union troop withdrawal

The US government also had a chargé d'affaires to the Afghan Northern Alliance government, beginning in 1989.

Peter Tomsen (1989–1992) - chargé d'affaires to Northern Alliance, new post

Post-war ambassadors:

James F. Dobbins (2001) - Special US Ambassador to oversee reopening of embassy, not official ambassador
Ryan C. Crocker (2001-2002) - chargé d'affaires before official ambassador could be chosen
Robert Finn (2002–2003)
Zalmay Khalilzad (2003–2005)
Ronald E. Neumann (2005–2007)
William B. Wood (2007-2009)
Karl Eikenberry (2009 - present)

[edit] See also

United States-Afghanistan relations