Workers in Kabul measuring out food for Afghans to receive from the World Food Program (Victor J. Blue | The New York Times)
In its usual pattern of pillaging and plundering, the U.S. seized billions of dollars of Afghanistan's assets after its withdrawal from the nation years ago. Now, the U.S. has created a foundation ostensibly to help disperse those seized funds. But with the U.S. nothing is ever that simple. Who really controls Afghanistan's sovereign assets?
Originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.
In August 2021, following the withdrawal of major U.S./NATO military forces from Afghanistan after two decades of occupation, Taliban forces took effective control over the country. In response, the United States seized the assets of Afghanistan’s central bank totaling around $7 billion. Half of that amount was transferred to the misleadingly named “Afghan Fund” in September 2022, a Swiss-based “charitable foundation” whose only role thus far has been to privately conceal and invest the funds without any concrete plans to return them, as confirmed by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West. This runs contrary to popular demands by experts and humanitarian organizations who argue that a return of the funds is desperately needed now more than ever to help everyday Afghans.
Afghan women do not have any representation on the board of the “Afghan Fund,” nor do they have any official say over whether the assets should be returned. The board of trustees includes: two men selected by the U.S. State Department, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady and Shah Mehrabi, the U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh, and Swiss government official Ambassador Alexandra Baumann.
According to a July 2024 press statement from the board of the “Afghan Fund,” some of the stolen assets may also be disbursed to the Asian Development Bank, an institution controlled by the United States, Japan, and Australia via majority shareholder status. While the funds are not returning to the Afghan people, this move shows that a process to return the funds to Afghanistan can begin immediately if the board members agree to do so. Regardless of whether the funds are in fact disbursed elsewhere over time, board members Ahady, Mehrabi, Shambaugh, and Baumann are all culpable in the forced starvation and impoverishment of tens of millions of Afghans – tantamount to the collective punishment of the Afghan people.
According to a January 2024 written testimony by the U.S. Congress-established Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the remaining $3.5 billion in sovereign funds held in the United States may eventually be transferred to the “Afghan Fund” depending on litigation filed by the families of 9/11 victims and other plaintiffs, while other funds held in Europe and the United Arab Emirates may also be added to the “Afghan Fund.” SIGAR found that none of the funds in the “Afghan Fund” as of early 2024 have been spent, are planned to be spent, or will ever be used to provide humanitarian or development assistance. Notably, while no disbursements have been made for the benefit of the Afghan people, portions of the over $340 million in interest that have been accrued from the stolen assets are being used to pay for the “Afghan Funds” operational and administrative costs.
The sudden deprivation of access to its sovereign assets led to a sharp economic and financial crisis in Afghanistan in 2021, which a recent United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study found is disproportionately affecting women and children. The seizure of assets combined with both U.S. and UN sanctions – ostensibly only targeting the Taliban – have hurt ordinary Afghans and aid organizations, affirmed by US-aligned rights groups and media outlets. The same UNDP report found that 69% of Afghans “do not have adequate resources for basic subsistence living,” while an estimated 15.8 million Afghans – including nearly 8 million children – are expected to experience “acute food insecurity” throughout 2024.
Clearly, the “Afghan Fund” – controlled by Western officials and Afghan compradors – has deliberately withheld billions from the suffering Afghan populace. It should be reiterated that a process to return these stolen funds, and in turn mitigate the U.S.-enabled humanitarian and economic crises plaguing Afghanistan, can and must begin right away. The following individuals have full power or influence over the release of the illegally stolen assets back to their rightful owners: the Afghan people.
Jay Shambaugh, Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs
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Visiting Associate Professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University
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Former Consultant to the International Monetary Fund (2005, 2008, 2011-2013)
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Former Director of the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution (2017-2020)
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Former Member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors (2015-2017)
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Former Chief Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers under (2009-2011)
Alexandra Baumann, Head of the Prosperity and Sustainability Division at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
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Former Diplomatic Advisor of the Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Finance
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Previously worked in the Swiss Embassies in Chile and Germany, and the Swiss Mission to the UN in New York
Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, former government official, economic advisor and central banker to the U.S./NATO occupied Afghanistan
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Former Minister of Commerce and Industry (2010-2013) and Minister of Agriculture (2020-2021)
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Former Minister of Finance and Advisor of National Economy to the U.S./NATO-backed President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai (2004-2009)
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Previously responsible for overseeing Afghanistan’s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (2002-2004)
Shah Mehrabi, Member of the Supreme Council of Da Afghanistan Bank
Thomas West , U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Deputy Assistant Secretary
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Former Vice President at a private global strategic advisory firm, the Cohen Group (2016-2021)
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Former Special Advisor at the UN National Security Council to the U.S. Vice President for South Asia and the U.S. Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2012-2015)
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Former U.S. State Department senior diplomat in Kunar Province, Afghanistan (2011-2012)
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Former Special Assistant for South and Central Asia to the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2008-2010)
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