US Watchdog ‘Cannot Assure’ Afghanistan Aid Not Going to Taliban

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Facts

  • John Sopko, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), told the House Oversight Committee presiding over the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan on Wednesday that US aid to the country may, at least partially, be funding the Taliban.1
  • Sopko also criticized the Dept. of State for "obfuscation and delay" regarding access to information in probing the more than $8B in US funding made available to the Afghan people since the 2021 withdrawal, which is supposed to bypass the Taliban.2
  • He also warned that the Taliban is likely diverting funds meant for assistance, which includes aid for food provision, health care, agriculture, civil society, and human rights, away from their intended recipients via customs charges on imports and taxes and fees on nongovernmental organizations.2
  • The State Dept. said it had "stopped providing assistance for the purpose of the reconstruction of Afghanistan" after the Taliban's takeover, adding that SIGAR's jurisdiction over financial activities after the withdrawal was still unclear and the Department has continued to cooperate with all relevant government bodies.3
  • According to the World Bank, 70% of Afghan households cannot meet basic needs such as food. Due to the Taliban's restrictions on women and girls, they have been disproportionally affected by this humanitarian crisis.4
  • The Trump admin. made a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to eventually withdraw US forces, with the incumbent Biden admin. choosing to continue the policy, leading to the Taliban takeover. SIGAR was created in 2008 to oversee US spending in Afghanistan.5

Sources: 1CNN, 2FOX News, 3NBC, 4Stars and Stripes, and 5The Hill.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by Washington Free Beacon. The evidence continues to mount that the Biden admin.'s rushed and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan directly led to the fall of Kabul and the Taliban returning to power. There's no excuse for the unjust suffering the Afghan people have endured since then, all because Biden wanted to score some cheap political points, and now it seems he is indirectly supporting the Taliban. This admin. must be held accountable for its continued foreign policy failures.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Vox. The US' disastrous invasion and occupation of Afghanistan under George W. Bush and hasty Trump-era policies, not Biden's withdrawal, are to blame for the fall of Kabul and the current humanitarian crisis. The fact that Afghan security forces crashed immediately following the US withdrawal indicates that the security situation was simply unsustainable, and the collapse was inevitable. There are, of course, valid criticisms of the withdrawal, but most have been unnecessary partisan attacks against Biden.

Predictions