Why is the White House stealing $7bn from Afghans? | Moustafa Bayoumi

To take Afghan money to pay grieving Americans in order to punish the Taliban is nothing less than larceny as collective punishment

Last week, the White House issued an executive order announcing the theft of some $7bn. Shocking, to be sure. But more shocking still was when that same executive order also identified the thief: the White House.

In a move that can only be described as brazenly immoral and utterly unconscionable, the Biden administration has begun a process to seize the more than $7bn of assets that the Central Bank of Afghanistan has on deposit at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Since the Taliban gained control of the war-ravaged country last year, that money has been frozen in place. Now, the administration has concocted its own mega-grift, planning to spend half of the money - not their money, lest we forget - for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, while reserving the other half of the funds - not their money - for the relatives of the September 11 victims who have brought claims against the Taliban for the 2001 terrorist attacks.