Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
President Joe Biden’s list of detractors has grown to international lengths since he signed an executive order to split $7 billion of frozen funds between Afghan humanitarian efforts and American victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Unsurprisingly, the Taliban – the terrorist fundamentalist group that assumed what the United States defines as illegitimate control over Afghanistan last year – claims all the money should be theirs. The group purports to be the one true government of Afghanistan, even if the majority of the world does not recognize it as such.
What was a surprise was that the Taliban comprises only one part of an odd grouping of Biden critics, with the Congressional Progressive Caucus joining in on the criticism.
On Wednesday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of “The Squad” and caucus chair, released a statement deriding Biden for redirecting money away from the people of Afghanistan.
“Any functioning country must have access to its own currency and reserves,” Jayapal said. “By removing and breaking up Afghanistan’s already frozen funds, the United States is continuing to contribute to a crumbling economy and devastating impacts on the Afghan people.”
Humanitarian groups and the United Nations have long warned of a food crisis in Afghanistan and the country’s economy is in shambles following a hasty and haphazard withdrawal by the U.S. and the reemergence of the Taliban. Jayapal said all funds should go to this more immediate issue.
“The families of victims of 9/11 absolutely deserve compensation, but this is not the way to do it,” Jayapal said. “President Biden has repeatedly promised that ‘human rights will be at the center of our foreign policy.’ We believe that he wants to keep that commitment — and that is why we urge him to reconsider this decision before it’s too late.”
Another notable critic of Biden’s Afghanistan dealings was the People’s Republic of China.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin was asked for if he had a comment on the one-year anniversary of the “Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations,” an agreement signed by 68 nations, meant to “end the practice of arbitrary arrest, detention or sentencing to exercise leverage over foreign governments.”
Wang replied, “How ironic it is that the U.S. and Canada issued statements one year after the Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations was published on the grounds of human rights protection, when the U.S. is keeping Afghan people’s assets as its own.”
Biden’s Afghanistan-related troubles have not been limited to just his dealings with the ousted Afghan government’s money. The president has also faced increased criticism from Republicans since his rejection of the findings of an Army report in which officers who served on the ground said Biden was ill-prepared to oversee the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took time on the Senate floor to chastise the Biden administration for its handling of the withdrawal and Biden’s unwillingness to accept any responsibility.
“This staggering report from our own U.S. Army should have chastened the Biden administration,” McConnell said. “It should be an occasion for apology, reflection, and accountability. But last week, President Biden instead tried to simply wave away our own Army’s conclusions without evidence.”
McConnell later added, “President Biden and his team were warned of all these dangers in advance. By our own U.S. military. But our commander-in-chief seems to have flat-out ignored our commanders. This has been an unbelievably costly lesson that the Biden administration should never have had to learn even once. Let us all hope they don’t need to learn it twice.”