President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 wasn’t his last mistake.
It was just the beginning.
Not to be outdone with a disastrous surrender after two decades of bloodshed and conflict, the Biden administration just made another move that has critics furious.
He’s handing over hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer cash to the Taliban.
The United States on Tuesday announced $308 million in aid for Afghanistan, offering the cash to the Taliban rulers as it edges toward a humanitarian crisis since their takeover only five months ago.
The country’s long-troubled economy has been in a tailspin since the Taliban takeover. Nearly 80% of Afghanistan’s previous government’s budget came from the international community. That money, now cut off, financed hospitals, schools, factories, and government ministries. Desperation for such basic necessities has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The USAID asked the Taliban to allow “all aid workers, especially women … to operate independently and securely” but did not make it a condition of the aid.
“The United States continues to urge the Taliban to allow unhindered humanitarian access, safe conditions for humanitarians, independent provision of assistance to all vulnerable people, and freedom of movement for aid workers of all genders,” the agency said in a statement.
The new Biden administration payout raises the taxpayer funds sent to Afghanistan to more than $780 million since the chaotic ending of the 20-year-old war in August.
In addition, the White House pledged that it would send Afghanistan 1 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX, an initiative by the World Health Organization to improve access to vaccines. With the new influx of doses, the U.S. will have sent 4.3 million doses to Afghanistan, which has struggled to deal with the unrelenting pandemic.
International funding to Afghanistan was suspended and billions of dollars of the country’s assets abroad, mostly in the United States, were frozen after the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August.
The decision by the U.S. and the international community not to recognize the Taliban government, the radical Islamic terror group that was in control from 1996 to 2001 and helped to protect Osama Bin Laden, has created a problem for Western powers about how to provide enough aid without giving the Taliban legitimacy.
They hope that by giving money directly to independent aid organizations they’ll be able to keep it out of the hands of the Taliban. Critics say it is unlikely.
The Taliban have called on the international community to release even more of the frozen Afghan funds.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article