Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) revealed in a report that significant failures in oversight of American aid resulted in the “misallocation” of $239 million of taxpayer funds to the Taliban. The funds were intended for counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan.
The Biden-Harris administration has a disastrous record in Afghanistan, going back to the deadly retreat at Abbey Gate that left 13 American service members dead and 45 injured. Approximately 9,000 Americans were left behind and roughly 78,000 Afghanis, who were cooperating with Allied forces, were left in the hands of the Taliban to be tortured and murdered in the streets.
Over $5 billion in military equipment was also left behind for the Taliban.
The SIGAR report identified at least 29 different grants that were awarded to the Taliban. The State Department’s divisions of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs had a significant lapse taking money from the taxpayer and awarding it to a known terrorist group.
“Joe & Kamala sent $239 MILLION of YOUR TAX DOLLARS to the Taliban. This is likely just the tip of the iceberg. The State Department and USAID have given $2.8 BILLION to Afghanistan since the Taliban took power. We don’t know how much of that went directly to the Taliban,” said Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL).
This lapse in vetting of groups receiving foreign aid is not just a budgetary or financial error but is a security issue for the United States. With this $239 million, along with the $5 billion in military equipment left behind, the United States, through the Biden-Harris administration is directly funding enemies of America.
John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a previous Congressional testimony, "Unfortunately, as I sit here today, I cannot assure you we are not now funding the Taliban, nor can I assure you the Taliban are not diverting it from the intended recipients, which are the Afghan people.”
SIGAR "investigators found that the State Department failed to comply with its own counterterrorism partner vetting requirements in Afghanistan," Judicial Watch reported.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) said, “This is unconscionable and beyond incompetent. The Taliban has killed U.S. service members, harbored bin Laden, and is currently holding American hostages like Ryan Corbett. Not a dime of taxpayer dollars should go to the Taliban.”
This $239 billion is on top of the more than $2.9 billion in cash that The United Nations has delivered to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control. Some of these funds are from the United States resulting in the flow of U.S. funds to the Taliban says another SIGAR report. U.N. officials do not deny that the cash delivered to Afghanistan makes its way to the central bank. But they say there is no avoiding it since the Taliban controls the country.
Libs of TikTok said, “Welcome to the Biden-Harris admin. The Taliban get $239 million while Maui fire victims get $700.”
After the lapse in vetting was reported the State Department claimed "the majority of the Department's Afghanistan-related awards fully complied" with vetting requirements" but acknowledged "the gaps in compliance highlighted in the report."
The letter expressed the State Department's "commitment to ensuring that all program offices comply with applicable . . . vetting requirement."