Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Biden Regime Still Shoveling Taxpayer Money into Afghanistan - Robert Spencer

 

by Robert Spencer

Meanwhile, the Taliban is persecuting Christians.

 


A new inspector general’s report released Tuesday gives us the latest evidence of the perfidy and anti-Americanism of the Biden regime: even after the Taliban took over in that country in the wake of the regime’s catastrophically botched withdrawal of American troops, the American taxpayer remains the world’s largest donor to Afghanistan. This is beyond absurd, as the Taliban, which is inveterately hostile to the U.S., is inevitably going to obtain some or all of that money, and could conceivably used it to finance attacks on Americans and U.S. interests. Is that what the traitor class that is running the Biden regime wants?

The Washington Times reported Wednesday that “some $2.1 billion has flowed to Afghanistan since August of 2021.” Biden regime officials, of course, insist that this is humanitarian aid that is “going to assist Afghans and not feed into the Taliban’s treasury.” The obvious problem with this, however, is that “the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction said officials can’t say for sure that the Taliban isn’t siphoning some of the money away from the groups the U.S. is funding.” Of course. Why wouldn’t they? And what could conceivably stop them? In light of that, and the nefarious uses to which the Taliban could put the money, we shouldn’t be sending a penny to Afghanistan. But clearly Biden’s handlers have different priorities from those involving the safety and well-being of the American people.

Inspector General John F. Sopko stated: “Since the Taliban takeover, the U.S. government has sought to continue supporting the Afghan people without providing benefits for the Taliban regime. However, it is clear from our work that the Taliban is using various methods to divert U.S. aid dollars.” He “pointed to reports that the Taliban levies fee charges on nongovernmental organizations still operating in the country. And in some areas, Taliban officials have ordered NGOs to provide assistance to Taliban personnel before others.” And of course, the Biden regime’s State Department “doesn’t know how much assistance has been siphoned off in that manner.” Why would they? They’re too busy implementing Critical Race Theory and putting on drag shows.

Meanwhile, the Christian news organization Mission Network News reported on April 3 that “the Taliban are offering money for Afghans to turn in any Christians they know. And Afghans are desperate, further heightening the security risk [to] Christians.” This might lead some to think that the U.S. should continue the humanitarian aid, so as to relieve the Afghans’ plight and ease the pressure on the country’s tiny and embattled Christian minority. But U.S. taxpayer money appears to be going straight to the Taliban.

Evidence for this was provided late last year. Da Afghanistan Bank, Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled central bank, tweeted the images on Nov. 29, Dec. 5, Dec. 6, and Dec. 14, 2022: massive stacks of American hundred-dollar bills, wrapped in plastic, bar-coded, and placed in boxes or blue plastic bags on the tarmac at the Kabul airport. The bank said this was $40 million in “humanitarian aid,” but said nothing about who had sent it, and one observer said that judging from the photos, there looked to be much more than $40 million flowing in to the Taliban’s coffers. So who was funding the Taliban with tens of millions in untraceable cash?

The prime suspect, of course, was Old Joe Biden and his handlers.

On Aug. 31, 2021, Old Joe declared, “We will continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid.” Then in January 2022, National Security Council spokeswonk Emily Horne said proudly: “The United States is announcing a new contribution of more than $308 million in humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan. This brings total US humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and for Afghan refugees in the region to nearly $782 million since October 2021, and we remain the single largest donor of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.”

Dr Niamatullah Ibrahimi, whom the Australian Broadcasting Corporation identifies as “an international relations lecturer and Afghanistan expert from La Trobe University,” said that it would not be difficult at all for the Taliban to hijack this aid money: “The distribution and dispersal of the money is not very transparent. There is very little that we know about how this money is used in Afghanistan and the mechanisms of control over aid delivery.”

Indeed. But no one seems to mind, and the money just keeps flowing in. What could possibly go wrong? Ask Afghanistan’s Christians.


Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 26 books including many bestsellers, such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad and The History of Jihad. His latest books are The Critical Qur’an and The Sumter Gambit. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.

Source: https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-regime-still-shoveling-taxpayer-money-into-afghanistan/

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