US presidential candidate Nikki Haley has criticized the Biden administration for sending US taxpayer money to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday, Haley said that “Nearly two years after Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, he continues to add insult to injury by throwing taxpayer dollars at the Taliban-controlled country. This is a terrorist regime that killed our troops and tortures its own people.”
She emphasized that if she becomes president, she will not send one penny to terrorists and countries that hate the United States.
Afghanistan continues to be a major issue for President Biden, with his approval ratings taking a hit following the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from the country in August 2021.
Richard Goldberg, a former White House National Security Council member during the Trump administration, told the Washington Free Beacon that Afghanistan is certain to rank as a top foreign policy priority as the 2024 election continues to heat up.
Earlier, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported to the US Congress that the US has provided more than $2.35 billion in funding to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021.
SIGAR indicated that the US remains the largest donor to Afghanistan despite halting major funding following the collapse of the former government in an attempt to review all non-humanitarian assistance programs and to assess the safety and ability to implement its operations.
However, the SIGAR report states that the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programs by “pushing for ever-increasing degrees of credit and control over the delivery of aid.”
The Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, has also criticized the Biden administration for providing funding to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
In a statement, McCaul stated, “It is despicable that U.S. taxpayer money is lining the pockets of a terrorist group like the Taliban, which persecutes Afghan women and girls, funds al-Qaeda and other terrorists, perpetrates atrocities against religious minorities, and commits numerous other human rights abuses daily.”
