The Biden administration does not know how much money the Taliban is diverting for its own use from the billions of dollars in humanitarian and other aid from international organizations and the State Department and the Agency for International Development (USAID) have refused to cooperate in their own government's official investigation, Special Inspector General on Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th April, 2023) The Biden administration does not know how much money the Taliban is diverting for its own use from the billions of dollars in humanitarian and other aid from international organizations and the State Department and the Agency for International Development (USAID) have refused to cooperate in their own government's official investigation, Special Inspector General on Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko said on Wednesday
"When SIGAR asked State how much revenue the Taliban is collecting from the UN, NGOs or other groups delivering international aid, shockingly, State's response was that it didn't know," Sopko told the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. "In sum, due to the refusal of State and USAID to fully cooperate with SIGAR, I cannot report to this Committee or the American people on the extent to which our government may be funding the Taliban and other nefarious groups with US taxpayer dollars. We simply do not know since the Department of State, USAID, the UN and other agencies are refusing to give us basic information that we or any other oversight body would need to ensure safe stewardship of tax dollars."
SIGAR's mission, which has been authorized by Congress, has been blocked by the flat refusal of all officials in the State Department and USAID to cooperate and provide even basic information, Sopko said.
"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 said.
Sopko noted the Defense Department's refusal to respond to SIGAR's inquiries in 2022 caused months of delay in responding to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee's requests.
"Unless this changes, we will face another summer of delays and noncooperation," Sopko said. "And this total refusal to cooperate with SIGAR's investigation was also followed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken himself," the inspector general added. "We have not received a response back from the secretary of state (or) from anyone in the administration really. Welcome to my world, Mr. Chairman."
In addition, the World Bank and a number of United Nations organizations have been "horrible" in their refusal and/or sheer inability to provide any figures or factual data to the SIGAR investigators, Sopko added.
