Originally published August 8, 2023 6:00 pm PDT
According to a new report, President Biden has given the Taliban over $2 billion dollars in just two years.
QUICK FACTS:
- A new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) claims that the Biden administration has given $2.35 billion to Afghanistan over the past two years.
- The report found that approximately $1.7 billion “remained available for possible disbursement,” meaning that these funds are given to nonprofit groups and other agencies working on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
- Because the Taliban has been in control of the country since the withdrawal, The Free Beacon notes “it is more than likely that a sizable portion of these funds will end up in the terror group’s coffers.”
- John Sopko, head of SIGAR, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in April 2023 that he “cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban.”
- According to the findings, in the two years since the Taliban retook control, it is increasingly clear that the terrorist group views international assistance as a “revenue stream.”
SIGAR REPORT ON THE TALIBAN ACCEPTING ASSISTANCE FROM THE U.S.:
The Taliban is “comfortable accepting foreign support insofar as they can closely monitor the organizations, including restricting and controlling them, and claim some credit for the provision of the benefits,” the report notes.
BACKGROUND:
- In February 2023, a report from SIGAR claimed the Taliban had nearly $7.2 billion worth of ammunition, weapons, and aircraft left from Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal.
- “In March 2022, DOD submitted a report to Congress that includes estimates on the status and condition of U.S.-provided weapons and equipment left in Afghanistan following the withdrawal,” the report reads.
- The materials in Taliban possession include “at least 78 aircraft worth $923.3 million, 9,524 air-to-ground munitions valued at $6.54 million, over 40,000 vehicles, more than 300,000 weapons, and nearly all night vision, surveillance, communications, and biometric equipment provided to the ANDSF [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] were left behind,” the report said.
- A Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson told SIGAR that there “currently is no realistic way to retrieve the material that remains in Afghanistan, given that the United States does not recognize the Taliban as a government.”
- The Taliban’s special operations units, Badri 313, “wear helmets with night vision mounts likely provided by the United States, and carry U.S.-provided M4 rifles equipped with advanced gunsights.”
- SIGAR’s report also described the Taliban’s use of “more advanced U.S.-provided equipment,” such as Mi-17 helicopters.
- The report noted that with the materials, the Taliban continue to “patrol in pickup trucks and armored vehicles likely procured by the U.S.”
