RASC News Agency: Fox News has reported that a formal request has been made to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to halt American aid to Afghanistan. This request follows revelations indicating that nearly $300 million in U.S. aid may have inadvertently ended up in the hands of the Taliban. Blinken has been urged to cease these disbursements to prevent them from further benefiting the Taliban.
Previously, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported that two State Department offices were unable to trace $293 million in U.S. aid allocated to Afghanistan. Two days ago, U.S. Senator Mike Braun, in a letter to Secretary Blinken, described the SIGAR report as “deeply alarming” and called for an immediate suspension of U.S. aid to Afghanistan until this matter is thoroughly addressed.
Senator Braun emphasized that the State Department’s failure to adhere to counterterrorism inspection standards has “emboldened the Taliban and other terrorist groups.” He further warned that when funds intended for humanitarian and developmental purposes inadvertently support terrorism and perpetuate violence and instability, they undermine U.S. national security.
The sooner these aid disbursements are halted, the better. In his letter, Senator Braun urged Secretary Blinken to implement corrective measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future. This call to suspend U.S. aid to Afghanistan comes as SIGAR, in a separate report, revealed that the U.S. has provided approximately $21 billion in aid to Afghanistan over the past three years.
SIGAR’s report detailed that these funds were allocated for humanitarian assistance, development projects, the resettlement of refugees from Afghanistan to the U.S., and the reimbursement of Afghanistan’s foreign currency reserves.
