Biden administration has given $2.35BILLION to the Taliban since withdrawal: Damaging report reveals massive waste of taxpayers’ money after 20 years in Afghanistan

Since the fall of Afghanistan, the US has transferred .

35 billion to groups under the ruthless Taliban regime.

That is according to a new report of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), released to the public on Tuesday.

Another $1.7 billion “remained available for possible payout” at the time of the July 30 report.

The report was made public as the US approached the two-year anniversary of the frenzied withdrawal.

The total amount allocated to “reconstruction and related activities” since 2002 dwarfs the figure for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Over the past two decades, $147.06 billion in US funding has been allocated to the war-torn nation in the Middle East.

Taliban security patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 30, 2023

Resources appropriated since the 2021 Taliban takeover are channeled through non-governmental organizations and other groups working on reconstruction projects. But with the Taliban now in control of nearly every sector of the economy, it’s more than likely that some of that treasury has ended up in their hands.

In April, SIGAR head John Sopko told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that he “cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer that we are not currently funding the Taliban.”

Sopko also said the Biden administration blocked his investigation and refused to hand over documents to track the flow of money under the Taliban.

The report cited another analysis by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) that found that the Taliban views aid, particularly that provided by the United Nations (UN), as a “revenue stream.”

The Taliban “press for ever-increasing creditworthiness and control over the delivery of aid from the UN,” the report said.

“According to multiple UN officials from various agencies, the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-administered aid programs,” it said.

People walk through a market with old Taliban flags in a town in a remote region of Afghanistan

The Taliban increasingly tolerate criticism and dissent and crush it with violence and intimidation. The group believes that “the threat of violence and brute force can force any desired outcome,” which the report says is illustrated by the group’s approach to foreign NGOs in Afghanistan.

The Taliban will accept “foreign-funded and supplied goods and services as long as they are provided in an unobtrusive, apolitical manner and with immediate tangible benefit.”

USAID told the watchdog: “Taliban interference in humanitarian aid is the main barrier for beneficiaries to access aid in 2023.”

After briefly halting operations in April when the Taliban banned women from working there, the UN reopened its operation in Afghanistan in May.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited about 28 million Afghans in need of aid, including 6 million facing famine, as a reason to remain open.

“To achieve our objectives, we cannot back down… the UN will continue to use its convening power to promote a forward-thinking approach, putting the Afghan people first, and in a way that is complementary to existing regional platforms and initiatives,” he said to pressure at the time.

UN experts say 20 years of progress for women and girls have been undone with the Taliban takeover in 2021. Women are now largely banned from attending secondary school, driving a car or working outside the home.

Sopko noted in April that in addition to the $2.35 billion, another $3.5 billion will come to Afghanistan through an international fund.

“I don’t trust the Taliban as far as you can throw them,” Sopko told the commission. “The information we’re getting — again, not from the State Department not talking to us or USAID … is that the Taliban are already funneling money.”

‘I haven’t seen a starving Taliban fighter on TV, they seem stupid and happy. I see starving Afghan children on TV.’

“If the intent is to help the Afghan people, we must have effective oversight,” said Sopko, who blamed an “over-reliance” on international agencies that he said have been “terrible” in providing information at his desk.