‘This Is Ransom’: White House Mulling Direct Foreign Aid To The Taliban

Is this what America’s “extraordinary success” in Afghanistan looks like? (In the words of President Biden on Tuesday).

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has offered blunt confirmation in a Wednesday “Good Morning America” interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that the United States won’t rule out giving aid directly to the Taliban regime in Kabul. 

NEW: Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says the US may deliver aid & economic assistance directly to the Taliban pic.twitter.com/sb4dzpTzxx

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 31, 2021

A somewhat incredulous looking Stephanopoulos questioned, “We’re gonna work with the Taliban… does that include the prospect of giving them aid?” 

Sullivan without missing a beat responded of the group which was long widely condemned as a terror organization after 9/11:

“Well first of all we do believe that there is an important dimension of humanitarian assistance that should go directly to the people of Afghanistan…”

“We do intend to continue that.”

Sullivan then actually used the unsettling phrase “our economic and development assistance relationship” with the Taliban. 

He continued: 

Secondly, when it comes to our economic and development assistance relationship with the Taliban, that will be about the Taliban’s actions. It will be about whether they following through on their commitments, Their commitments to safe passage for Americans and Afghan allies. Their commitment to not allow Afghanistan to be a base from which terrorists can attack the United States.”

…It’s going to be up to them, and we will wait and see by their actions how we end up responding in terms of the economic and developmental assistance relationship.”

This is who US taxpayers will be forced to send “aid” to…

Taliban supporters hold mock funeral with American-flag draped coffins https://t.co/PqVy9MxXYw pic.twitter.com/5M5N2obxOv

— New York Post (@nypost) September 1, 2021

The subtext here is the ‘plan B’ after the US administration is confirmed to have left many Americans behind, with estimates ranging from a couple hundred to multiple hundreds still trapped in the war-torn country. 

“It’s possible” #GenMilley says of U.S. cooperation with #Taliban against #ISIS-K

— Travis J. Tritten (@Travis_Tritten) September 1, 2021

Plan B appears to be to literally bribe the Taliban into allowing safe-passage for remaining Americans and local allies in the form of foreign aid, or essentially ransom money.

Here is Jake Sullivan talking about giving aid directly to the Taliban

This is ransom money pic.twitter.com/n0340uidAC

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 1, 2021

Sullivan later in the interview tried to clarify that “It’s not going to flow through the Taliban.” 

“As you know, George, when we send humanitarian assistance to countries, we do so through … international institutions like the World Health Organization or the World Food Program, and we do so through a nongovernmental organization who, George, are still operating on the ground in Afghanistan as we speak. It will not flow through the government.” However he clearly laid out that depending on the Taliban’s “actions” and ‘good behavior’ – aid may eventually go to them. “It’s going to be up to them,” he said.

At the same time it must be remembered that some top Taliban officials remain on Washington’s ‘most wanted’ terrorists lists, literally with bounties on their heads.