The State Department vetting procedures failed this week, leading to the Islamic extremist Taliban receiving at least $239 million in U.S. aid aimed at counterterrorism.
A July 2024 report from the government watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), identified g at least 29 grants where the Taliban received funds meant for counterterrorism
According to Judicial Watch, SIGAR “investigators found that the State Department failed to comply with its own counterterrorism partner vetting requirements in Afghanistan.”
The funds to the terrorist group came from State Department divisions called “Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor” and “International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.”
The SIGAR report identified more than two dozen instances where these divisions failed to conduct proper vetting records.
The SIGAR report includes a response to the findings from the State Department.
The State Department claimed in a letter from June 2024:
“The majority of the Department’s Afghanistan-related awards fully complied” with vetting requirements” but acknowledged “the gaps in compliance highlighted in the report.”
The letter expressed the State Department’s “commit[ment] to ensuring that all program offices comply with applicable . . . vetting requirement.”
As we reported earlier this year, The Biden administration delivered at least $11 million in tax dollars to the Taliban, according to a federal watchdog report.
According to a Center Square report, the funds have been delivered through various aid groups that receive federal tax dollars.
However, the actual total Biden has delivered to the Taliban could be much higher, the report warns
The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan following Biden’s decision to pull American troops out.
The report cited the conclusion of SIGAR, a federal watchdog, which found:
“The U.S. government has continued to be the largest international donor supporting the Afghan people since the former Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.”
READ: Biden Granted 34,000 Special Visas to Refugees Following Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal
