Tag Archives: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Posted on by

On Tuesday, The U.K. Daily Mail reported the following:

Since the fall of Afghanistan, the U.S. has forked over funds to groups under the brutal Taliban regime to the tune of $2.35 billion. 

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

Another $1.7 billion ‘remained available for possible disbursement’ at the time of the report, dated July 30.

Why are we giving money to people who hate us? Can’t they hate us for free?

In May 2023, U.S. News reported:

The Taliban’s return to power has affected all citizens. In December 2022, for example, the government reinstituted public floggings and executions. But Afghan women, in particular, have seen decades of hard-earned rights stripped away during less than two years of Taliban rule. Though the Taliban initially promised to uphold women’s and minority rights, they have instead imposed strict restrictions. The most recent blow to women’s rights came in April, when women were banned from working for the United Nations, further limiting their participation in the workforce and day-to-day life.

The article at U.S. News includes a timeline of how the Taliban has taken away women’s rights since they took control. Why are we sending these people money (that we don’t have)?

The article at The U.K. Mail concludes:

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

Sopko [John Sopko, head of SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction)] noted in April that in addition to the $2.35 billion, another $3.5 billion is slated to come in to Afghanistan through an international fund.

‘I don’t trust the Taliban as far as you can throw them,’ Sopko told the committee. ‘The information we’re getting — again, not from the State Department who isn’t talking to us or USAID … is that the Taliban are already diverting funds.’ 

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

‘If the purpose is to help the Afghan people we have to have effective oversight,’ Sopko said, blaming an ‘over-reliance’ on international agencies he said have been ‘horrible’ about providing his agency with information.

It would be interesting to know who is responsible for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. It would also be interesting to know why we are giving the country that kind of money as they are eliminating the rights of women? Do we care about women’s rights overseas?

Where Is The Money Going?

Posted on by

On Wednesday, American Greatness posted an article about the aid America has been sending to Afghanistan since the American withdrawal.

The article reports:

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko slammed the U.S. Department of State and USAID during a House Oversight and Reform hearing on Wednesday, accusing the agencies of allowing U.S. taxpayer dollars to be diverted to the Taliban and stonewalling his inquiries into the situation.

According to Sopko, the United States has provided more than $8 billion in assistance to the Afghan people since the U.S. withdrawal, but due to “a lack of aggressive oversight controls,” unknown quantities of U.S. dollars could be ending up in the hands of the Taliban.

The GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee heard from four Inspectors General Wednesday morning during its first hearing on “the Biden Administration’s Disastrous Withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

“While I agree and we all agree Afghanistan faces dire humanitarian and economic situation, it is critical that our assistance not be diverted by the Taliban,” Sopko declared in his opening statement.

The article notes:

The Department of State, USAID, the UN and other agencies have refused to give him “basic information that we or any other oversight body would need to ensure safe stewardship of tax dollars,” Sopko testified.

“More troubling, State and USAID have instructed their employees not to talk to SIGAR, and in one recent instance, State told one of its contractors not to participate in a SIGAR audit,” he added. “I note in passing that DOD’s refusal to respond to SIGAR’s inquiries in 2022 caused months of delay in responding to this committee’s requests.”

Thank God the Republicans took over the House of Representatives. Do you think Congress would be even questioning this if the Democrats were still in control? America cannot afford to be the piggy-bank of the world. Most of the money we are sending to other countries is money we have borrowed from China. At some point our borrowing will end. Does anyone believe that any of the countries we have financed are going to pay us back? It’s bad enough that we are borrowing money to send to Afghanistan, but it is even worse that our government cannot tell us that the money we are sending is not supporting the Taliban.