It was shameful enough that President Biden's disastrous and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan saw stockpiles of vehicles, weapons, and equipment be left behind for the Taliban. Worse, in an unsurprising turn of events, it turns out Americans' hard-earned tax dollars are continuing to fund the terrorists — not that the Biden administration will designate them as such. Instead, the White House referred to the Taliban as "businesslike" and "professional" during the withdrawal.
According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko, American funds are "benefitting the Taliban-controlled" government of Afghanistan through taxpayer funding allocated to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and public international organizations (PIOs) such as the United Nations that end up in Taliban hands in the form of payments to the Afghan government.
The total amount of taxpayers' gifts to the Taliban: "at least $10.9 million" since August 2021. According to the SIGAR report published in May, that amount is "likely only a fraction of the total amount of U.S. assistance funds provided to the Taliban...because UN agencies receiving U.S. funds did not collect data or provide relevant information about their subawardees’ payments."
For its audit of taxpayer funds ending up being used as payments to the Taliban, SIGAR asked "implementing partners" who receive taxpayer funding to carry out their work in Afghanistan to complete a questionnaire. Just 58 percent — 38 out of 65 — responded.
(1/3) SIGAR issued a questionnaire to each of 144 implementing partners that conducted U.S.-funded activities in #AFG since August 2021. Despite following up with implementing partners on numerous occasions, we only received 65 responses from the 144 implementing partners
— SIGAR (@SIGARHQ) May 27, 2024
What's more, "UN agreements with State and USAID do not include any requirements to annually report on taxes, fees, duties, or utilities incurred on U.S. funds provided for activities in Afghanistan," the SIGAR report states.
"UN agencies told SIGAR that they did not pay any taxes, fees, or duties, due to their tax-exempt status as a PIO, in accordance with the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations" but "UN agencies act as pass-through entities for State and USAID awards and use subcontractors to directly implement award activities."
That means "UN subawardees were required to pay taxes, fees, duties, or utilities in the same way as other State and USAID implementing partners," explains the report.
Of the $10.9 million reported to SIGAR, $10.4 million was paid in taxes to the Taliban government, $346,839 was paid to government-owned utilities, $176,596 was paid in "fees," and $9,215 was attributed to customs duties.
(2/2)…$346,839 from public utility payments; $176,596 from fees; $9,215 from customs duties https://t.co/ojIJUX2uvg
— SIGAR (@SIGARHQ) May 20, 2024
The report comes at the request of House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) who directed SIGAR to "report on the extent to which U.S. taxpayer dollars are benefitting the Taliban" by auditing "the extent to which (1) U.S. funds intended to provide assistance to the Afghan people are benefitting the Taliban...and (2) U.S. agencies provided oversight of these funds."
"Since the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the United States government has provided over $2.8 billion to address the humanitarian crisis created by the Taliban takeover," McCaul emphasized in a statement following the report's release. "Unsurprisingly, SIGAR has found that at least $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars have been provided to the Taliban," he said. "It is unacceptable for any U.S. funding to benefit the Taliban."
"The Biden administration must take immediate action to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to the Taliban," McCaul insisted, adding he is "grateful to SIGAR for their ongoing work to provide oversight of U.S. funding to Afghanistan."
Before McCaul directed SIGAR to conduct the audit that led to May's report, congressional testimony by Special Inspector General Sopko revealed that he couldn't say whether American taxpayers were funding the Taliban — now it's clear that they are and the more than $10 million in confirmed payments is just a "fraction" of the total.