AFGHANISTAN

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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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REUTERS

"Blinken defends Afghan withdrawal at angry U.S. congressional hearing"


By Patricia Zengerle, Humeyra Pamuk

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Secretary of State Antony Blinken beat back criticism of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Monday, at a contentious congressional hearing where at least one Republican called on him to resign.

In testy exchanges with lawmakers, Blinken defended President Joe Biden’s decision to pull out and pushed back on accusations that the State Department might have done more to help Americans and at-risk Afghans to be evacuated, blaming the previous administration for lacking a plan.

He repeatedly noted that Republican former President Donald Trump had negotiated the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban, and said President Joe Biden’s administration did not consider renegotiating because of threats from the group to resume killing Americans.

“There’s no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces or the Afghan government any more resilient or self-sustaining,” Blinken said.

“We inherited a deadline."

"We did not inherit a plan,” Blinken said, referring to the Trump administration’s agreement to remove all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by May 1.


Members of Congress - Biden’s fellow Democrats as well as opposition Republicans - have planned hearings since the Taliban seized control of the country last month after a rapid advance.

Blinken appeared on Monday before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and was to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first Biden administration official to testify publicly to lawmakers since the Islamist militant group’s takeover.

Fireworks had been expected, given the amount of finger-pointing over how the two-decade-long U.S. presence in the country ended.

Republicans offered harsh criticism.

“The American people don’t like to lose, especially not to the terrorists."

"But this is exactly what has happened,” said Representative Michael McCaul, the panel’s top Republican.

McCaul asked why assets like the Bagram Air Base were not maintained and why the administration had not reached surveillance and counterterrorism agreements with neighboring countries.

“This is a national security threat as China moves in."

"For all I know they make take over Bagram,” McCaul said.

Blinken said the United States was actively working to identify threats.

MANY QUESTIONS

Members of Congress asked a long list of questions about the rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Biden administration’s scramble to evacuate 124,000 people, including Americans and at-risk Afghans.

Democrats expressed concern about Americans and at-risk Afghans still in Afghanistan who wish to leave, but backed the withdrawal as necessary, if painful, after two decades.

“I would welcome hearing what exactly a smooth withdrawal from a messy chaotic 20-year war looks like,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, the committee’s chairman.

Blinken praised the evacuation as “a heroic effort” by diplomats, the military and intelligence officers.

He pledged that the United States will continue to support humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, but through non-governmental organizations and U.N. agencies, not the Taliban.

Afghanistan is at risk of running out of food, as it faces a terrible drought in addition to political upheaval.

“We need to do everything we can to make sure the people of Afghanistan don’t suffer any more than is already the case,” Blinken said.

He said he would name a senior official at the State Department to focus solely on the effort to support women, girls and minorities in Afghanistan.

He said that, as of the end of last week, about 100 Americans were still in Afghanistan, who wanted to leave.

Republicans grilled Blinken about what happened at Kabul’s airport during the evacuation ahead of the administration’s Aug. 31 deadline to leave.

Thirteen U.S. troops and dozens of Afghans were killed in a suicide bombing amid the chaos.

Democrats had said they wanted the hearing to address not just the seven months Biden was president before Kabul was captured by the Taliban but all 20 years of U.S. involvement in the country - under presidents from both parties.

A U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks masterminded by al Qaeda leaders based in Afghanistan.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Humeyra Pamuk and Doina Chiacu, additional reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Peter Cooney and Alistair Bell

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afgh ... SKBN2G90XV
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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REUTERS

"U.S. Senate panel may force Afghanistan answers from Biden administration"


By Patricia Zengerle and Doina Chiacu

September 14, 2021

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee threatened on Tuesday to subpoena Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other officials if necessary to make them testify to Congress about the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"A full accounting of the U.S. response to this crisis is not complete without the Pentagon – especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the U.S.-trained and funded Afghan military," Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said at the second congressional hearing in two days, which included testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.


"I expect that the Secretary (Austin) will avail himself to the Committee in the near future."

"If he does not, I may consider the use of the Committee’s subpoena power to compel him and others over the course of these last twenty years to testify," Menendez said.

A Pentagon spokesman responded that Austin was unable to appear because of "conflicting commitments" and added that Austin would testify at the end of September before the Senate and House of Representatives Armed Services Committees.

Menendez told MSNBC after the hearing that he nonetheless wanted Austin to appear before the foreign policy panel.

Lawmakers - President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats as well as Republicans - peppered Blinken with questions and criticism during the 3-1/2 hour hearing about the messy end last month to America's longest war and why the administration did not delay the withdrawal to allow more people to be evacuated.

Menendez blasted the exit as "clearly and fatally flawed."

Blinken said U.S. officials had not expected the Taliban's lightning advance and the "11-day collapse" of U.S.-backed Afghan forces.

"That's what changed everything," Blinken said.

U.S. forces had been in Afghanistan since toppling the Taliban in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks which they say were masterminded by al-Qaeda leaders based in the country.

Senator Jim Risch, the committee's top Republican, said he worried the administration was seeking to normalize relations with the Taliban and called plans to restart humanitarian aid "deeply, deeply concerning."

He described the militant group as "one of the best-armed terrorist organizations on the planet," now that it controls military equipment left behind by U.S. forces.

"There is not enough lipstick in the world to put on this pig to make it look any different than what it actually is," Risch said.

Members of Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Biden's fellow Democrats, have pledged to investigate since the collapse of the Kabul government and takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban last month.

Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced after Monday's House hearing with Blinken that he had hired a former CNN reporter to investigate the withdrawal.

Blinken, and many Democrats, repeatedly noted that Republican former President Donald Trump had negotiated the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban.

Several Democrats accused Republicans of hypocrisy for supporting Trump's planned withdrawal but opposing Biden's action.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Doina Chiacu; additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Idrees Ali; Editing by Alistair Bell

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-sen ... 021-09-14/
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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FOX NEWS

"Top Intelligence officials say al Qaeda could rebuild in Afghanistan in one to two years - Officials say that members of the terrorist group have already started to return to Afghanistan"


By Michael Lee | Fox News

14 SEPTEMBER 2021

Al Qaeda could rebuild in Afghanistan and again become a threat to the U.S. homeland in one to two years.

"The current assessment probably conservatively is one to two years for al Qaeda to build some capability to at least threaten the homeland," said Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Scott D. Berrier during Tuesday's National Security Summit.


Officials say that members of the terrorist group have already started to return to the country amid the Taliban takeover, speeding the timeline for which the group could begin to pose a renewed threat.

While both al Qaeda and ISIS-K have a presence in Afghanistan, only al Qaeda has an established alliance with the Taliban.

It is still unclear how much effort the Taliban will put into keeping the terrorist group in check, though they pledged during the peace agreement with the U.S. to not allow the country to become a haven for terrorist groups, a pledge some officials do not trust the Taliban to keep now that U.S. forces have departed Afghanistan.

Deputy director of the CIA David S. Cohen said the agency is watching "some potential movement of al Qaeda to Afghanistan" but noted it is hard for the CIA to assess a timeline for when they or ISIS-K would "have the capability to go to strike the homeland" before the agency could detect the threat.

Without a ground presence in the country, the officials will be looking to develop "over the horizon" methods of collecting intelligence.

"We will also look for ways to work from within the horizon, to the extent that is possible," Cohen said.

Berrier stressed that any over-the-horizon intelligence ability in Afghanistan will have to be developed alongside a new push to monitor rivals such as Russia and China.

"We’re thinking about ways to gain access back into Afghanistan with all kinds of sources," Berrier said.

"We have to be careful to balance these very scarce resources with this pivot to China, and to Russia."


Michael Lee is a writer at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @UAMichaelLee

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-in ... -two-years
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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FOX NEWS

"Blinken admits US doesn't know who was killed in Kabul airstrike, review ongoing"


By Ronn Blitzer | Fox News

14 SEPTEMBER 2021

Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted Tuesday that he does not know whether a person killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul was a member of ISIS-K or an aid worker, and that the Biden administration is still looking into the matter.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., grilled Blinken on the matter during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

"The guy the Biden administration droned, was he an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" Paul asked, referencing a New York Times report that found that the vehicle struck was driven by U.S. aid group worker Zemari Ahmadi, one of 10 people the Times said died in the attack.

"The administration is of course reviewing that strike and I’m sure that a full assessment will be forthcoming," Blinken said, leading Paul to press the issue.

"So you don’t know if it was an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" the senator asked.

When Blinken said he could not speak to that in the setting they were in, Paul asked, "So you don’t know or won’t tell us?"

"I don’t know because we’re reviewing it," Blinken admitted.


Paul slammed the administration's failure to be aware of who they had targeted.

"You’d think you’d kind of know before you off somebody with a Predator drone whether he’s an aid worker or an ISIS-K," he said, before accusing past administrations of exhibiting similar behavior.

Paul had earlier chastised the administration for its failures in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuation of Americans and allies trying to get out.

"Never in my worst nightmares could I have imagined that an administration would leave and leave $80 billion worth of weaponry to the Taliban," Paul said.

"Dozens of planes and helicopters, thousands of armored carriers, hundreds of thousands of automatic weapons, and worst of all, 13 of our brave young men and women."

"Never in my worst nightmares did anyone conceive of such a colossal incompetence."


Paul said the U.S. abandoning Bagram Air Field will be viewed as "one of the worst military decisions in our history."

Blinken then claimed that much of the planes and helicopters were inoperable or soon would be due to lack of maintenance.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blinke ... was-killed
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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REUTERS

"'Unmitigated disaster': Republicans attack Biden's defense of Afghan pullout"


By Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle

September 29, 2021

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. lawmakers tried on Wednesday to pick apart President Joe Biden's defense of his withdrawal from Afghanistan as they attacked his judgment and honesty during a second day of contentious Congressional hearings with Pentagon leaders.

Democrat Biden has faced the biggest crisis of his presidency over the war in Afghanistan, which he argued needed to be brought to a close after 20 years of stalemated fighting that had cost American lives, drained resources and distracted from greater strategic priorities.

Republicans have accused him of lying about military commanders' recommendations to keep 2,500 troops in the country, playing down warnings of the risks of a Taliban victory, and exaggerating America's ability to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for militant groups like al Qaeda.

"I fear the president may be delusional," said Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, calling the withdrawal an "unmitigated disaster."

"It will go down in history as one of the greatest failures of American leadership," Rogers said.


Under Biden's Republican predecessor Donald Trump, the United States made a deal with the Islamist militant group to withdraw all American forces, leaving Biden with the tough choice of pulling out completely or abandoning the deal and embracing a period of renewed hostilities with the Taliban.

Biden's approval ratings have been badly damaged by last month's spectacular collapse of the two-decade war effort, which ended in a chaotic withdrawal that left U.S. troops dead and American citizens behind.

General Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, said both he and the top commander on the ground in Afghanistan had recommended keeping 2,500 U.S. troops as well as thousands more coalition forces in the country.

McKenzie, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley testified in the House for 4-1/2 hours on Wednesday, after spending almost all day on Tuesday at a hearing in the Senate.

McKenzie told the House committee that he had warned that a complete withdrawal would lead to the collapse of the Afghan military and the Afghan government.

"That is in fact what happened," McKenzie said.

In an August television interview, Biden denied his commanders had recommended keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

He said then: "No."

"No one said that to me that I can recall."


Republicans accused Biden of being untruthful, also citing his promises to leave no Americans behind and scoffing at his assurances in July that Afghanistan wouldn't become another Vietnam even as the Taliban's advance accelerated.

The House hearing devolved repeatedly into shouting matches, as representatives argued over what Democrats characterized as partisan Republican attacks on Biden, particularly over the television interview.

One committee member, Republican Representative Mike Johnson, used the time he had been allotted for questions to read the interview transcript aloud.

Republican Joe Wilson said Biden should resign.

Other Republicans directed their anger at Milley.

They slammed him for doing interviews for books critical of Trump and accused him of being "woke," which Republicans consider a disparaging reference to his comments this summer about the need for military commanders to be aware of racial tensions in America.

Trump has repeatedly accused Milley of being a "woke" general more concerned with his image than winning the war.

U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, who has broken from Republicans to become a vocal Trump opponent, praised Milley.

"For any member of this committee, for any American to question your loyalty to our nation ... is despicable," Cheney told Milley at the hearing.

"STRATEGIC FAILURE"

Milley testified that withdrawing to zero had a major impact on morale among Afghan troops, who had grown to depend on U.S. assistance for everything from air and intelligence support to training and equipment maintenance.

While the U.S. airlift of 124,000 people out of Afghanistan was a logistical success, Milley acknowledged for a second day that it was a "strategic failure" - one that left the Taliban back in power at the end of America's longest war.

Democrats faulted Republicans for blaming Biden - who has been president since late January - for everything that went wrong during the 20 years U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan.

Representative Adam Smith, the committee's Democratic chairman, said he agreed with Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

"Our larger mission to help build a government in Afghanistan that could govern effectively and defeat the Taliban had failed," Smith said.

"President Biden had the courage to finally make the decision to say no, we are not succeeding in this mission."


Reporting by Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Grant McCool

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/unmiti ... 021-09-29/
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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REUTERS

"U.N. warns of 'colossal' collapse of Afghan banking system"


By Michelle Nichols

November 22, 2021

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Monday pushed for urgent action to prop up Afghanistan's banks, warning that a spike in people unable to repay loans, lower deposits and a cash liquidity crunch could cause the financial system to collapse within months.

In a three-page report on Afghanistan's banking and financial system seen by Reuters, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) said the economic cost of a banking system collapse - and consequent negative social impact - "would be colossal."

An abrupt withdrawal of most foreign development support after the Taliban seized power on Aug. 15 from Afghanistan's Western-backed government has sent the economy into freefall, putting a severe strain on the banking system which set weekly withdrawal limits to stop a run on deposits.

"Afghanistan's financial and bank payment systems are in disarray."

"The bank-run problem must be resolved quickly to improve Afghanistan's limited production capacity and prevent the banking system from collapsing," the UNDP report said.

Finding a way to avert a collapse is complicated by international and unilateral sanctions on Taliban leaders.

"We need to find a way to make sure that if we support the banking sector, we are not supporting Taliban," Abdallah al Dardari, head of UNDP in Afghanistan, told Reuters.


"We are in such a dire situation that we need to think of all possible options and we have to think outside the box," he said.

"What used to be three months ago unthinkable has to become thinkable now."

Afghanistan's banking system was already vulnerable before the Taliban came to power.

But since then development aid has dried up, billions of dollars in Afghan assets have been frozen abroad, and the United Nations and aid groups are now struggling to get enough cash into the country.


The United States is working with the United Nations, UNDP and other international institutions and countries "to find ways to offer liquidity, to infuse, to see to it that the people of Afghanistan can take advantage of international support in ways that don't flow into the coffers of the Taliban," said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

'UNDER THE MATTRESS'

The UNDP's proposals to save the banking system include a deposit insurance scheme, measures to ensure adequate liquidity for short- and medium-term needs, as well as credit guarantees and loan repayment delay options.

"Coordination with the International Financial Institutions, with their extensive experience of the Afghan financial system, would be critical to this process," UNDP said in its report, referring to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned since the Taliban took over that Afghanistan's economy is on the brink of a collapse that would likely further fuel a refugee crisis.

UNDP said that if the banking system fails, it could take decades to rebuild.

The UNDP report said that with current trends and withdrawal restrictions, about 40% of Afghanistan's deposit base will be lost by the end of the year.

It said banks have stopped extending new credit, and that non-performing loans had almost doubled to 57% in September from the end of 2020.

"If this rate continues of non-performing loans, the banks may not have a chance to survive in the next six months."

"And I am being optimistic," al Dardari said.

Liquidity has also been a problem.

Afghan banks heavily relied on physical shipments of U.S. dollars, which have stopped.

When it comes to the local afghani currency, al Dardari said that while there is about $4 billion worth of afghanis in the economy, only about $500 million worth is in circulation.

"The rest is sitting under the mattress or under the pillow because people are afraid," he said.


As the United Nations seeks to avert famine in Afghanistan, al Dardari also warned about the consequences of a banking collapse for trade finance.

"Afghanistan last year imported about $7 billion worth of goods and products and services, mostly foodstuff ..."

"If there is no trade finance the interruption is huge," he said.

"Without the banking system, none of this can happen."

Reporting by Michelle Nichols, additional reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis

https://www.reuters.com/business/financ ... 021-11-22/
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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BUSINESS INSIDER

"Leaked documents show the Biden administration was still discussing basic plans for mass civilian evacuation hours before the Taliban took Kabul"


salarshani@businessinsider.com (Sarah Al-Arshani) -

2 FEBRUARY 2022

US officials were making decisions on Afghanistan evacuations hours before the Taliban takeover.

Axios reported that leaked documents showed basic decisions hadn't been made as of August 14.


The Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, and US troops withdrew by the end of that month.

President Joe Biden's administration reacted slowly and was unprepared to evacuate Afghans who helped the US after the Taliban took Kabul in August, according to notes from a White House Situation Room meeting obtained by Axios.

The outlet said a National Security Council "summary of conclusions" document from an August 14 meeting held between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, when Taliban fighters were closing in on Kabul, showed the Biden administration made several crucial decisions just hours before the Taliban took over on August 15.

Senior officials were still talking over basic mass-civilian-evacuation actions.

Axios reported that though the document it obtained featured the word "immediately" several times, officials on August 14 were still determining which countries would be transit stops for evacuees.

The document also said officials in that meeting decided the embassy in Kabul should "immediately" inform locally employed workers "to register their interest in relocation to the United States and begin to prepare immediately for departure."

Gen. John Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was among senior officials said to have attended the meeting.

Axios added that earlier in 2021, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who ended up fleeing the country, had asked Biden not to start a mass evacuation because he was worried it would show a lack of faith in his government; at the same time, Biden officials overestimated the Afghan military ability to withstand the Taliban.

More than 120,000 people were ultimately evacuated from Afghanistan by the August 31 deadline to withdraw troops.

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment from Insider.

In a statement to Axios, a National Security Council representative, Emily Horne, said: "While we're not going to comment on leaked internal documents, cherry-picked notes from one meeting do not reflect the months of work that were already underway."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/le ... hp&pc=U531
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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REUTERS

"EXCLUSIVE Afghan Taliban sign deal for Russian oil products, gas and wheat"


By Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Charlotte Greenfield

September 27, 2022

KABUL, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The Taliban have signed a provisional deal with Russia to supply gasoline, diesel, gas and wheat to Afghanistan, Acting Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters.

Azizi said his ministry was working to diversify its trading partners and that Russia had offered the Taliban administration a discount to average global commodity prices.

The move, the first known major international economic deal struck by the Taliban since they returned to power more than a year ago, could help to ease the Islamist movement's isolation that has effectively cut it off from the global banking system.

No country formally recognises the group, which fought a 20-year insurgency against Western forces and their local Afghan allies before sweeping into Kabul as U.S. troops withdrew.

Western diplomats have said the group needs to change its course on human rights, particularly those of women, and prove it has cut ties with international militant groups in order to gain formal recognition.

Russia does not officially recognise the Taliban's government, but Moscow hosted leaders of the movement in the run-up to the fall of Kabul and its embassy is one of only a handful to remain open in the Afghan capital.

Azizi said the deal would involve Russia supplying around one million tonnes of gasoline, one million tonnes of diesel, 500,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and two million tonnes of wheat annually.

Russia's energy and agriculture ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the agreement.

The office of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is in charge of oil and gas, also did not immediately respond.

Azizi said the agreement would run for an unspecified trial period, after which both sides were expected to sign a longer term deal if they were content with the arrangement.

He declined to give details on pricing or payment methods, but said Russia had agreed to a discount to global markets on goods that would be delivered to Afghanistan by road and rail.

The deal was finalised after an Afghan technical team spent several weeks in discussions in Moscow, having stayed on after Azizi visited there last month.

ECONOMY IN CRISIS

Since the Taliban regained power, Afghanistan has been plunged into economic crisis after development aid upon which the country relied was cut and amid sanctions that have largely frozen the banking sector.

The trade deal is likely to be watched closely in the United States, whose officials have held regular talks with the Taliban on plans for the country's banking system.

Washington has announced the creation of a Swiss trust fund for some of the Afghan central bank reserves held in the United States.

The Taliban have demanded the release of the entire amount of around $7 billion and said the funds should be used for central bank operations.


Azizi said international data showed most Afghans were living below the poverty line, and his office was working to support trade and the economy through international outreach.

"Afghans are in great need," he said.

"Whatever we do, we do it based on national interest and the people's benefit."

He said Afghanistan also received some gas and oil from Iran and Turkmenistan and had strong trade ties with Pakistan, but also wanted to diversify.

"A country ... shouldn't be dependent on just one country, we should have alternative ways," he said.

The Group of Seven (G7) nations are trying to find ways to limit Russia's oil export earnings in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Moscow has managed to maintain revenues through increased crude sales to Asia, particularly China and India.

The European Union will ban Russian crude imports by Dec. 5 and Russian oil products by Feb. 5.

Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Jane Merriman

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodi ... 022-09-27/
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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BLOOMBERG

"Afghanistan Watchdog Says Biden Administration Shuns His Queries"


Larry Liebert

2 NOVEMBER 2022

(Bloomberg) -- An official watchdog known for his sharp criticism of wasteful US spending in Afghanistan said the Biden administration has stonewalled inquiries about $1.1 billion in humanitarian aid spent “to support the Afghan people since the Taliban’s takeover.”

John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said in a report issued late Tuesday night that his office “for the first time in its history is unable this quarter to provide Congress and the American people with a full accounting of this US government spending due to the noncooperation of several US government agencies.”

In “direct violation” of the 2008 law that created the office known as SIGAR, Sopko said, the US Agency for International Development and the Treasury Department “refused to cooperate” at all while the State Department shared only “high-level funding data.”


USAID and the State Department maintained that the continuing US aid is “humanitarian and development assistance” and not part of the reconstruction funding that Sopko oversees, according to his report.

In Sopko’s latest quarterly report, he found that current conditions in Afghanistan “are similar to those under the Taliban in the 1990s.”

Among findings:

Looking into allegations that former top Afghan officials stole funds as their government collapsed, Sopko concluded that the cash taken from grounds of the presidential palace and loaded into helicopters was probably limited to about $500,000.

“The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remained dire,” with more than half of the population in need of aid.

Women and girls in Afghanistan “now face significant risks including reduced access to education and healthcare; loss of empowerment, including the ability to be economically and otherwise independent; and heightened personal safety and security risks.”

Six completed audits by his office of US-funded projects to rebuild Afghanistan found $10.7 million in “questioned costs.”

--With assistance from Tony Capaccio.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/a ... 69518a550e
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Re: AFGHANISTAN

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FOX NEWS

"Kilmeade presses Biden spokesman on Pentagon's new findings on Afghanistan exit: 'Disaster'"


Story by Bailee Hill

30 NOVEMBER 2022

The White House pushed back on a bombshell DOD report alleging the Chinese utilized the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal as a propaganda gift to undermine American influence across the globe.

"Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade grilled National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby over the report, calling out the Biden administration for its handling of what many critics call the botched exit and how it impacted alliances.


"Nations like China and Russia took a look at what we did in Afghanistan, and we've talked about this many, many times over the last year, and had to marvel at the speed, the efficiency of their effectiveness that very small number… of troops… are able to move that many Afghans safely out of that country," Kirby said Wednesday.

"No other nation in the world can do that."

Kilmeade pushed back on Kirby's remarks, citing how the withdrawal was conducted while noting the 13 service members that lost their lives during the exit.

"The way we did it, the way we promised that government would stand up, the way we were going to leave in and have a transition, the disaster that took place is one of the many problems, along with the soldiers that are suffering now by the way," he said.

"You could argue that Russia invaded Ukraine because of it."

The Defense Department released its annual report Tuesday, revealing that China used the exit to influence American influence overseas.

"The PRC employed multiple diplomatic tools in an attempt to erode U.S. and partner influence," the report reads, including "highlighting the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan."

Despite the findings, Kirby was adamant the report suggests Chinese officials were not necessarily successful in undermining U.S. partnerships abroad.

"The report said that China attempted to capitalize on it," Kirby said.

"That's a big difference from saying that they did or were able to capitalize on this…"

"They spread propaganda about everything," he responded.

Biden's DOD has focused on China as America's top global adversary throughout his time in office.

The report says the PRC is working toward "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" by 2049 and is also vastly expanding its nuclear arsenal.

Biden has long defended his handling of the withdrawal both during and after the process, arguing there was no clean way to end U.S. deployment in the region.

"We have admitted and acknowledged that not everything about the withdrawal was done perfectly, that there were certainly mistakes made," Kirby said.

"We've investigated those mistakes."

"We owned up for those."

Kilmeade continued to press Kirby on Afghanistan becoming a "terror haven" for al Qaeda and asked why President Biden has not been briefed on the issue.

At least 100 U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghan allies were stranded in the country under Taliban rule upon the U.S. withdrawal.

Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ki ... d9c5310a01
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