The Biden administration has given Taliban-controlled Afghanistan more than $2.3 billion since its chaotic exit from the country two years ago, a new report claims.
A report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction that was released a week ago found that since the American military left Kabul with 13 U.S. service members killed and with billions of dollars in equipment left behind, money has continued to flow in.
SIGAR released its findings in a report dated July 30 and noted that a significant amount of taxpayers’ funds had been given to the country since late 2021.
The funds were allocated for and disbursed to numerous aid organizations for the reconstruction of the country.
“The U.S. government has appropriated more than $2.35 billion in [fiscal year] 2022 and [fiscal year] 2023 funding for Afghanistan reconstruction programming since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021,” the report stated.
Not only has the country been given billions, more funds are ready to be disbursed for additional projects, SIGAR’s report stated.
Of six active reconstruction funds, the report found “about $1.70 billion remained for possible disbursement.”
“This amount includes $580 million obligated but unspent on 86 active projects, $557 million in funds available for obligation or subobligation on future projects, and $545 million obligated but unspent on inactive, suspended, or terminated contracts,” the report said.
The money is intended for non-governmental organizations, but it is widely believed much of the money has been diverted by the Taliban.
Should the US stop sending money to Afghanistan?
Yes: 97% (676 Votes)
No: 3% (21 Votes)
John Sopko, the head of SIGAR, addressed concerns in April to members of Congress that American taxpayer dollars were being used by the Taliban.
In last week’s report, Sopko cautioned about a “diversion” of funds by the Taliban for projects intended to help civilians.
Sopko wrote it is “no longer a question of whether the Taliban are diverting assistance from our programs to help the Afghan people, but rather how much they are diverting.”
The report found that money is being funneled into the country even as a “gender apartheid” is occurring against the country’s women.
SIGAR warned the Taliban are not only oppressing women but are also accused of “crimes against humanity including corporal punishments and extrajudicial killings.”
The report dropped just weeks shy of the two-year anniversary of the Pentagon’s withdrawal of forces from the country as the Taliban swept across the country resulting in the total collapse of the Afghan government.
The Defense Department left the country in such a hurry that $7 billion worth of U.S. military equipment was abandoned, Forbes reported.
Since 2002, SIGAR reported $147.06 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent in Afghanistan.
