Posted on 08/17/2021 10:58:05 AM PDT by Red Badger
NATO has frozen all financial aid to Afghanistan now that the country has fallen under Taliban control, the leader of the alliance said Tuesday.
The international community has spent two decades training, equipping, and paying the salaries of local Afghan forces, in addition to supporting the elected government. But now that government leaders have fled and the Taliban has taken control of the entire country, that aid has stopped, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday in a press conference.
“We have of course suspended all...financial and other kinds of support to the Afghan government because there is no Afghan government for NATO to support,” Stoltenberg said. “All of that is frozen and suspended….No money is transferred, no support is provided to Kabul after the collapse of the government.”
Stoltenberg did not rule out help in the future. He said that aid could restart if some kind of “inclusive government” is established.
“If that happens, it will be easier to have some kind of relationship, compared to if we have a Taliban rule which is similar to what we saw 20 years ago,” he said.
NATO runs a trust fund for the Afghan National Army, which uses contributions from allies to help the Afghan military get training, education, and equipment. At a meeting of the fund’s board in October, allies confirmed their contributions for 2021 and promised to continue paying into the fund through 2024.
Since the fund was established in 2007, countries have contributed more than $3.4 billion, as of Feb. 5. Some of the top contributors are Australia, which has given $680 million; Germany, which has given $810 million; and Italy, which has given $508 million. The United States has paid $40 million into the fund.
The Biden administration also repeatedly promised earlier this year that diplomatic and economic support for Afghanistan would continue even though the military presence was ending. The United States had already committed to spend $3.3 billion in 2022 to support the Afghan air force, buy fuel and spare parts, and pay the salaries of Afghan troops.
“We will not abandon Afghanistan,” Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, told Der Spiegel in May. “Afghanistan is going to be at the very top of the recipients of U.S. assistance, foreign assistance which includes supporting the Afghan security forces, development assistance and humanitarian assistance. And our allies say the same.”
In addition, the State Department announced in April that it was working with Congress on a $300 million aid package for Afghan civilians focused on supporting women’s rights, growing the Afghan economy and improving access to healthcare and education. That money was expected to be distributed by both the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development.
The White House has not yet said what will happen to that money. But with the Taliban in control, it’s highly likely that the United States will follow NATO and freeze those funds. It’s unclear how the international community will be able to deliver any help now that many countries including the United States have closed their embassies and evacuated most staff.
Stoltenberg said that the alliance’s top priority now is getting as many people as possible out of Afghanistan to safety. But once the evacuation mission is complete, he called for an “honest, clear-eyed assessment” of whether the money NATO invested and the troops put at risk made a difference in the long-term. Though he said there are gains that will be difficult to undo, such as an entire generation of Afghan girls getting an education, the collapse of the military and government was “swift and sudden.”
“We have to continue to fight international terrorism…[and] we strongly beleive that it’s better to build local capacity to train local forces,” he said. “But the big question we have to ask...is why didn’t the forces we trained and equipped and supported over so many years, why were they not able to stand up against the Taliban in a stronger and better way?”
Absolutely no reason for the Taliban to follow any international power or treaty. They’re being financially cornered and have billions of dollars in US weaponry. This is not going to end well.
I’m sure the CCP is ready and willing to help.
The “Taliban government” which allegedly does not exist is holding NATO citizens hostage....
Time to pay up or shut up...
How long before Biden sends the Taliban pallets full of billions of USD on planes, like Obama/Valerie Jarrett did for Iran?
Aid from nato will be replaced by aid from the UN, yes?
The UN has no objection to Islamist regimes.
I do not understand.
Who was financing the taliban before? If the money wasn’t coming from the ‘afghan government’, why would cutting off ‘afghan govt funds’ affect the taliban?
Any funds sent to the Taliban right now just goes into their warchest.
Yesterday.
Any funds sent to the Taliban right now just goes into their leaders Swiss bank accounts...................
…as if the Taliban wanted or needed NATO support…sheesh, they just kicked NATOs ass in three days. And they got a sh*tload of military hardware and ammo as loot. Not to mention 10s of thousands hostages to ransom.
Send them a harshly worded letter, why don’t you…they’ll tremble at not being invited to the International Community’s cocktail parties.
Western Civilization is made up of idiots and buffoons.
Go on take the money and run
I think the plan is that NATO countries will include virtue signaling text along with the wiring of cash for hostages....you know like “don’t forget to celebrate Gay Pride month”...
:-)
I’ll take “what is Pokistan for $200 Alex”.
Chicoms have already said they’ll recognize the talyban.
It almost as if they’re poking them into killing hostages.
Before leaving the "Führerbau," Chamberlain requested a private conference with Hitler. Hitler agreed, and the two met at Hitler's apartment in the city later that morning. Chamberlain urged restraint in the implementation of the agreement and requested that the Germans not bomb Prague if the Czechs resisted, to which Hitler seemed agreeable. Chamberlain took from his pocket a paper headed "Anglo–German Agreement", which contained three paragraphs, including a statement that the two nations considered the Munich Agreement "symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war again." According to Chamberlain, Hitler interjected "Ja! Ja!" ("Yes! Yes!") as the Prime Minister read it.[130]
The two men signed the paper then and there.
When, later that day, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop remonstrated with Hitler for signing it, the Führer replied, "Oh, don't take it so seriously. That piece of paper is of no further significance whatever."[131]
Chamberlain, on the other hand, patted his breast pocket when he returned to his hotel for lunch and said, "I've got it!"[132] Word leaked of the outcome of the meetings before Chamberlain's return, causing delight among many in London but gloom for Churchill and his supporters.[133]
well, they wouldn't be surprised if you looked at the nazi blitzkreig...those German soldiers in World War 2 did it with methamphetamine. Back then is was pervitin.
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