There are Indications that debate on the issue of aid to Afghanistan, and specifically the freezing of the $9.4 in frozen Afghan Central Bank reserves, is heating up inside the State Department and in other sectors of the Biden Administration. A Dec. 20 Washington Post article quotes several State Department and other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressing concern about Afghanistan’s collapsing economy and the grave humanitarian crisis. While the Post editorializes that Taliban progress in meeting U.S. and international demands has been “little to none,” “including an end to providing safe haven for groups such as al-Qaeda,” a growing number of administration officials, “particularly in the U.S. State Department, are pushing for more flexibility, with some arguing that the Taliban has been more cooperative in addressing international concerns than it is given credit for.”
Laurel Miller, a former senior official for Afghanistan in the Obama and Trump administrations now at the International Crisis Group, is described as having concerns “similar to those expressed by a number of current officials who are reluctant to speak out publicly…. I recognize that it’s very difficult, in the immediate aftermath of losing a war, to contemplate supporting a state that is run by your former enemies. But the Afghan people need a state that functions, to at least a minimal degree. There is no way to entirely circumvent the Taliban if you’re going to prevent the continued collapse of the entire economy.” Another anonymous official pointed to several, ultimately small actions taken by Treasury, the World Bank, State, and others to allow for some funding to get through, along with humanitarian aid, food, and medicine, etc. But, it’s not enough, this official said, and, according to the Post, a growing number of administration officials, particularly in the State Department, are saying the Biden administration will have to decide whether it wants the government in power to fail, or “if it wants to use its influence in ways that help more Afghans survive.”
