Humanitarian Aid to Afghanistan will be Backdoor Ransom Payment to Taliban

Listen to this article

On Thursday, Rep. Michael Waltz called for the Biden administration to maintain financial pressure on the Taliban following the permanent withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Waltz is a former Green Beret and veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He is one of several GOP legislators who have been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan. He appeared on FOX Business Network. The legislator argued that any effort to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan would amount to a backdoor ransom payment to the Taliban. Waltz said, “They’re going to backchannel humanitarian aid through nonprofits. As we all know, that will end up right in the hands of the Taliban”. Waltz added, “They’re going to allow them access to their foreign currency reserves to the tune of billions that are around the world”.

Last month, the administration of Biden froze $7 billion in Afghan government reserves held in US banks following the Taliban takeover. President Biden and other administration officials have pledged to continue sending humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan. They thought they have stressed the efforts will be taken to avoid the Taliban from accessing any funds. The Biden administration hasn’t yet said if or when it could unfreeze access to the reserve funds. Last month, a Biden administration official said, “Any Central Bank assets the Afghan government have in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban”. However, Waltz and other GOP officials are inflexible that the Biden administration should not recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.

The Biden officials said the Taliban will be held accountable if they deviate from public pledges to uphold the rights of their citizens and allow free travel. The Florida congressman warned against the notion that the Taliban could be relied on to keep the country free of terrorist groups that pose a threat to US national security. Waltz also said that President Biden gave the Taliban leverage by leaving some Americans behind during the withdrawal. He said, “I think they are sliding down the slippery slope of cooperating with the Taliban, of recognizing the Taliban and believing this false notion that there are good and moderate terrorists that will work with us against the bad terrorists”. It is noteworthy that United States has completed the withdrawal operation of US troops from Afghanistan but there are still some Americans who need to evacuate.