Blinken slams 'tens of billions of dollars' sent to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan

Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast criticized Secretary of State Antony Blinken for claiming that an estimated “tens of billions” of U.S. taxpayers have been sent to the Taliban since U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan.

Mr. Mast, who was elected the day before to become the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee next month, sharply criticized Mr. Blinken over the Biden administration's response to the chaotic August 2021 withdrawal.

The current chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), issued multiple subpoenas in September seeking Blinken's testimony. Under threat of a contempt vote, he finally agreed.

Mast asked the top U.S. diplomat whether he had been in Afghanistan since a suicide bombing at the monastery gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport killed 13 U.S. military personnel and about 170 Afghan civilians. , Mr. Blinken responded, “I said I haven't.” “Yet we are still giving tens of billions of dollars to the Taliban,” Mast said, noting that the United States no longer controls the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan.

“Literally, there are American citizens who woke up this morning who lost 30% of their paychecks, and a significant percentage of that is going to the Taliban and other programs overseas,” Mast said. “And this is something we all need to think about, and we're going to think deeply about over the next two years. There's a joke a lot about kids going to college to learn basket weaving, but… What a joke that is.'' But the US is currently sending literally tens of millions of dollars, $14.9 million to be exact, to teach Afghans how to weave carpets. ”

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“We are contributing $280 million to the United Nations to provide cash transfers for food in Afghanistan,” Mast continued. “But we're not sending an ear of corn from Iowa, a bag of potatoes from Idaho, a cucumber or an orange from Florida. It discounts the fact that it's not passing through our ports. Again, it's just a cash transfer.”

Mast cited a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which tracks U.S. funding allocated to reconstruction efforts, and said an additional $75 million was sent to teach women to become farmers. said.

“I don't think we're spending $30 million in the United States to teach women to be farmers,” Mast said.

Earlier, R.S.C. MP Joe Wilson said that since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, “women have been effectively banished from public life, unable to speak in public or take up jobs such as nursing.” “I am no longer able to get a job,” he said.

“My colleague Mr. Wilson said they can't dance in the streets, they can't talk to each other, they can't go to school. That $75 million is going to teach them agriculture. “I don't know if I should believe that,” Mast said. “And, as you pointed out, we don't have diplomats on the ground to verify the effectiveness of these programs.”

Mast also asked Blinken to explain the $3.5 billion transferred to the Afghanistan Fund “to protect macro-financial stability on behalf of the Afghan people.”

A protester shouts at Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)

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“What in the world does that mean? Can you tell me? I don't know, it just doesn't make sense to me,” Mast interjected. “Worse still, by the numbers, since the fall of Afghanistan, we have spent $9 billion to resettle roughly 90,000 Afghan refugees here. My simple Army calculations say that each 10,000 dollars. That's ridiculous. So, my question to you is, what are we doing giving them $1 when we have an embassy in Afghanistan and we don't have diplomats? ?”

Blinken's response focused on how funds provided by the United States and other countries are channeled through partners such as United Nations agencies and NGOs.

“Yes, the same is true for State Department funds, foreign NGOs, foreign countries, foreign companies, and in this case foreign adversaries, all of them,” Mast interjected.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken takes his seat to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Mr. Secretary, as you know, people have literally lied directly to us, especially outside of this country,” Mast said. “Your people had to come back and correct that, hey, we were actually spending $500,000 through a third-party implementer at Humanist International to expand atheism in Nepal. Turns out they lied to us. They were lying. Show us the exact slide show they spent $500,000 on. And we're done. There's an embassy there. There's no business putting a dollar into something like that.”

Mast said a two-year investigation by House Republicans forced the State Department to admit that a $500,000 grant intended to promote “humanism and secularism” in Nepal may have been misused. He mentioned the background.

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In response, Mr. Blinken said he respectfully disagreed with Mr. Mast's opposition to the Afghanistan Fund, adding, “The work that we've done through these partners, and that many other countries have done, is incredible. “It has saved so many lives in the most difficult circumstances.”