by WorldTribune Staff, November 7, 2023
After leaving behind tens of billions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment and surrendering the strategic Bagram Air Base with its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Team Biden has sent the nation led by the Taliban terror organization another $11 billion of U.S. taxpayer money.
The funding was revealed by John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in his latest report, which was issued on Monday.
The Biden administration and the United Nations insist that the funds are being “placed in designated UN accounts in a private bank,” rather than being “deposited in the central bank or provided to the Taliban.”
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that the cash deliveries are “carefully monitored, audited, inspected, and vetted in accordance with UN financial rules and processes.”
Sopko’s report noted that U.S. and other governments are spending $3 billion to feed, house, and medicate Afghans. While that aid may not go directly to the Taliban, Sopko said it frees up $3 billion for the terrorists to spend on their own priorities.
Related: Key Trump intel advisor slams ‘unconditional surrender’ of Bagram Air Base, August 26, 2021
The report also pointed out that the Taliban has a long history of stealing foreign aid, blocking oppressed minority populations from receiving it, and “siphoning cash from UN shipments, or collecting royalties, or charging fees on cash shipments.”
“The UN, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and other entities involved in aid efforts have paid administrative fees to various Taliban ministries, and these fees were recorded by the Taliban as inland revenue,” the report noted. “Taliban interference into UN and NGO activities has continued to rise throughout 2023, limited beneficiary access to lifesaving assistance.”
The report also said the Taliban continues to discriminate against women who work for aid agencies, leaving only about a quarter of humanitarian operations that employ both male and female staffers “fully operational.”
The Biden administration has said it could grant diplomatic recognition and legitimacy to the Taliban if it agrees to “respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans.”
The Taliban has displayed very little interest in the Biden team’s approach, instead preferring to develop economic relations with communist China.
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