Despite Afghanistan withdrawal, Biden seeks to spend $3.6B more on reconstruction there next year
The US spent nearly $1 trillion on Afghanistan before the withdrawal debacle
How Afghanistan could impact Biden’s domestic policy
Kaltbaum Capital Management President Gary Kaltbaum discusses Afghanistan and today’s markets.
The war and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion — but the Biden administration has asked for more, even with plans to fully withdraw from the country this summer.
In its budget request for fiscal year 2022, the White House included $3.3 billion for Afghan security forces to be paid out via the Department of Defense's Afghanistan Security Forces Fund.
That money would flow to the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Afghan Air Force and the Afghan Special Security Forces, entities that put up little resistance as the Taliban swept across the country in just a few days.
The White House has also requested $364 million go toward development assistance via the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.
That money would be aimed at "improving access to essential services for Afghan citizens, promoting economic growth, fighting corruption and the narcotics trade, improving health and education service delivery, supporting women's empowerment, enhancing conflict resolution mechanisms, supporting the Afghan-led peace process and bolstering Afghan civil society," the White House said in a June fact sheet.
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko mentioned the request in a letter accompanying a report, discussing the failures of the reconstruction process.
US SPENT NEARLY $2.3T ON AFGHANISTAN OVER 20-YEAR CONFLICT THAT ENDS WITH TALIBAN BACK IN CHARGE
"Despite the U.S. troop withdrawal, the Biden administration has requested more than $3 billion for Afghanistan’s reconstruction in the coming year," Sopko said.
Fox News asked the White House if the administration still wants the funds in light of the Taliban taking over the country, but they did not respond.
That money is in addition to the $145 billion already spent on rebuilding and the $837 billion dedicated to fighting.
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While the administration is seeking more money to pour into Afghanistan, the U.S. government has already had trouble managing the vast amounts of cash dedicated to the cause. The report mentions how there was "pressure to spend" money that became "excessive" in the period from 2010 to 2012.
"I’d talk to infantry commanders and ask what they need, and they’d say, ‘Turn this money off. We’re having to look for people and projects to spend money on,'" a former senior official with the United States Agency for International Development told SIGAR.
During that time, the U.S. Army’s Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) approved project after project, but "struggled to move beyond confirming project completion to ascertain whether it was achieving the intended effect," SIGAR's report said.
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Calculations by Brown University's Costs of War Project – based on State Department and Defense Department budgets, costs of veterans' care and interest on borrowed money – totaled the overall price of the war at more than $2.26 trillion.
President Biden pledged to add to that on Monday when he promised half a billion dollars to help refugees fleeing from Afghanistan.