By Zach Jewell - The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that the U.S. will be sending an additional $308 million to Afghanistan for humanitarian assistance, bringing the total the U.S. has sent to the country to almost $782 million since October.
The announcement was made in a press release by National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Emily Horne. The press release also detailed that the government will ship one million more vaccines to the country.
“The new humanitarian assistance by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will directly flow through independent humanitarian organizations and help provide lifesaving protection and shelter, essential health care, winterization assistance, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services in response to the growing humanitarian needs exacerbated by COVID-19 and healthcare shortages, drought, malnutrition, and the winter season,” the press release said.
In August, U.S. troops left Afghanistan in a disastrous withdrawal that saw the death of 13 soldiers in a terror attack at the Kabul airport. Last month, President Joe Biden defended his decision to evacuate Afghanistan, claiming there was no way to withdraw without casualties. “Everybody says, ‘you could’ve gotten out without anybody being hurt,’” Biden said of Afghanistan to CBS News correspondent Rita Braver. “No one’s come up with a way to indicate to me how that happens.”
Biden has been so committed to his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan that he even said he would be willing to lose his presidency over it.
Shortly after the U.S. left Afghanistan, the Taliban took over the country, leading to hunger and all forms of injustice committed against Afghans. The Daily Wire reported in November:
After President Biden pulled the last U.S. troops out of Afghanistan in August, many starving families have resorted to selling their pre-pubescent girls into marriages with older men in order to survive.
“Though marrying off children under 15 is illegal nationwide, it has been commonly practiced for years, especially in more rural parts of Afghanistan. And it has only spread since August, driven by widespread hunger and desperation,” CNN reported.
In October, nearly 50 people were killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing at a mosque in the country. “The attack happened as a group of Muslims were praying Friday at a mosque in Kandahar province,” The Daily Wire reported. “Original Taliban reports said that the death toll was around 30, but the count has now been increased to nearly 50.”
Now, the U.S. is attempting to clean up the mess left in Afghanistan through humanitarian aid and refugee resettlement, which results in other troubling problems, such as more than 1,400 children being taken to the U.S. without their parents, and Afghan refugees allegedly attempting to rape a child and strangle a woman.
The solution to the humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan is most likely much more complex than shipping hundreds of millions of dollars and one million vaccines to the country, but for now, that’s what the U.S. government will do.
“The United States is committed to supporting the Afghan people and we continue to consider all options available to us,” the press release closed. “We stand with the people of Afghanistan.”
