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.
Kerry pans U.S. handling of aid to Afghanistan
