Trump administration wants to reimburse Taliban's travel expenses

The Trump administration asked Congress earlier this year for funds to reimburse Afghanistan’s Taliban for expenses the insurgent group incurs attending peace talks, according to a spokesman for the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. The money would cover the Taliban’s costs for expenses such as transportation, lodging, food and supplies, said Kevin Spicer, spokesman for Indiana Democrat Peter J. Visclosky, in a statement for CQ Roll Call.

The Pentagon’s request to funnel U.S. funds to the Taliban “would implicate provisions of law concerning material support to terrorists, the Taliban’s ongoing offensive operations against U.S. service members, and their continuing lack of acknowledgement of the government of Afghanistan or the rights of women in Afghan society,” said Spicer. Visclosky’s panel approved on Wednesday a $690.2 billion Defense spending bill for fiscal 2020 that bars any funds for reimbursing the Taliban.

Under the Trump request the U.S. government would funnel funds to a violent group that once harbored Osama bin Laden — a fighting force that U.S. troops have been combating for more than 18 years. The Taliban is a well-funded organization, too. And much of its money has been earned from a drug trade that is killing record numbers of Americans. The group may net at least $800 million a year from opium trafficking and related activities.

The Taliban is not on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations, even though the group deliberately targets civilians.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/administration-wants-reimburse-talibans-travel-expenses