(ReliableNews.org) – President Joe Biden pulled US troops out of Afghanistan in 2021 after a 20-year war. The withdrawal was a disaster, and the Taliban took the country soon after. The administration is now uncertain about whether US tax dollars are going to the extremist government.
A report by the Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstructions (SIGAR) found two bureaus within the State Department, the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), weren’t able to show that they were complying with “partner vetting requirements.”
The agencies were reportedly unable to “provide supporting documentation” for many of the awards they gave to groups. In total, the State Department couldn’t show it complied with the regulations regarding the disbursement of almost $293 million of tax dollars in Afghanistan.
That means the State Department potentially gave millions of dollars to organizations that fund the Taliban and other terrorist organizations.
SIGAR also determined that officials within the State Department violated federal laws requiring them to preserve documents. That made it almost impossible for the special investigation to determine if the groups were vetted. The report stated there was “an increased risk that terrorist and terrorist-affiliated” organizations benefited financially from the humanitarian aid.
The news comes approximately a month after US lawmakers fumed over the possibility that taxpayers were funding terrorists. A House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing took a turn in June when Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) started pointing out the US has sent $2.8 billion in humanitarian aid but didn’t know if it was going to the terrorists in the country.
In May, SIGAR found the administration gave “at least $10.9 million” in tax dollars to the acting government.
The latest report stated the findings were an example of why it’s so important for the State Department to follow its requirements for choosing groups to send the money to in the war-torn nation.
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