Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the USA has been sending $40-80 million in taxpayer funds to Afghanistan every week, amounting to billions of dollars annually. While officially designated as humanitarian aid, this money is reportedly flowing through mechanisms controlled by the Taliban, raising serious concerns about its subsequent use.
Investigations and statements by public figures like Congressman Tim Burchett, entrepreneur Elon Musk, and others have spotlighted the disturbing reality that US taxpayer dollars may be funding terrorism. To understand how US funds end up in the hands of the Taliban, it is crucial to examine the financial allocations made to Afghanistan. These funds are officially intended to support Afghan civilians and help stabilize a country ravaged by decades of conflict. However, the flow of these funds raises significant concerns, particularly regarding how they are subsequently used.
As of September 30, the USA had allocated approximately $148.08 billion for Afghanistan’s reconstruction since fiscal year 2002. This funding was distributed as $88.89 billion for security, including $4.60 billion for counter-narcotics programmes, $35.82 billion for governance and development, along with $7.05 billion for humanitarian assistance and $16.32 billion for civilian operations.
Post-US. withdrawal from financial year 2022 to financial year 2024, total appropriations amounted to $3.33 billion. The six largest assistance accounts comprised $2.78 billion of this total, out of which $2.43 billion (73 percent) allocated to International Disaster Assistance (IDA) and Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA), the primary humanitarian accounts. Despite these allocations being aimed at humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, the Afghan economy and the well-being of its people continue to face immense challenges.
Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest and least developed nations, ranked 182nd out of 193 countries on the Human Development Index. The economic collapse that began in 2021 has now turned into a persistent state of weakness. Afghanistan’s economy shrank by 27 percent from 2021 to 2023 and is now stuck in a state of “no-growth,” despite this much funding by the USA. According to the World Bank’s recent Afghanistan Welfare Monitoring Survey, unemployment in surveyed households was close to 20 percent as of mid-2023, with no significant improvement expected in the near future.
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues to worsen: According to 2024 reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the US Agency for International Development, approximately 15.8 million Afghans are facing acute food insecurity, 22.1 million need protection assistance, and 8.7 million children require education support. According to the UN, approximately 15.8 million Afghans were projected to face “crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity” in 2024. A previous UN estimate from 2022 indicated that 9 out of 10 Afghans were living in poverty. Furthermore, Afghanistan has a global terrorism index (GTI) rating of 7.825 which is still very high and its sheltering of leaders of terrorist organizations like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is causing major terrorism concerns for its neighbour Pakistan.
The question arises that if these released funds are being provided to Afghanistan, why is the situation not improving at all, rather than being worsened in economic, security and humanitarian domains? There is mounting concern that the funds are being diverted to systems controlled by the Taliban due to their absolute control over Afghanistan.
This lack of oversight and accountability has raised alarms about the potential misuse of US taxpayer dollars and the possibility that these funds are indirectly strengthening the Taliban’s grip on power rather than benefiting the Afghan people as intended. Many NGOs operating in Afghanistan have no choice but to pay taxes and fees directly to the Taliban to maintain operations in which implementing NGOs paid at least $10.9 million and were pressured to divert resources to Afghan banks.
These payments further legitimize the Taliban’s control and siphon money away from humanitarian purposes. US Republican Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee has been one of the most vocal critics of this financial arrangement. Responding to Elon Musk’s query about whether U.S. taxpayer dollars were reaching the Taliban, Burchett issued a chilling warning: “The next terrorist attack will be 100 percent fully funded by the American taxpayer.”
In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, Burchett outlined the ways US foreign aid under the Biden Administration has allegedly benefited the Taliban.
The US government maintains that this money is for humanitarian purposes, such as food, healthcare, and education for Afghan civilians but the reality speaks otherwise. Once the funds reach the Taliban-controlled central bank, the USA has no practical means to monitor how they are used. This lack of oversight has created a black hole for billions of taxpayer dollars to a faction known for violating human rights.
The flow of US taxpayer money into Taliban-controlled systems highlights a broader dilemma. The revelation that US taxpayer money is flowing into Taliban-controlled systems is not just a financial scandal, it is a national security threat for the USA. Americans deserve to know how their hard-earned money is being used, especially when it risks funding terrorism. As the debate continues, the US government must prioritize transparency, accountability, and national security. With $40-80 million leaving US coffers every week, the stakes are too high to ignore.
