U.S. Senator John Kerry panned the government’s handling of foreign aid to Afghanistan, saying the billions of aid resulted in minimal gain.
Speaking at a confirmation hearing for Ryan Crocker, President Barack Obama’s nominee to serve as ambassador to Afghanistan, Kerry said the policy of sending aid to Afghanistan to deny al- Qaida and the Taliban safe haven is failing, as militant groups simply move to neighboring Pakistan.
“We’ve spent 20 billion dollars in a country where there is no safe haven,” he said.
Kerry’s comments came after the release of a Congressional report highly critical of U.S. efforts to support and build the Afghan government. The report concluded the United States was spending 320 million dollars a month on aid with limited success.
“We need to take a closer look at how we are spending money in Afghanistan and the impact it is having on the Afghan state,” the report said.
