[FREEBEACON] A bipartisan bill aiming to cut funding for the war in Afghanistan would severely destabilize the nation's security environment, particularly amid a Taliban...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
resurgence, according to regional experts.
Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said a withdrawal of U.S. funds to Kabul would signal the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government to myrmidon groups and regional powers such as Russia and Iran.
"This [legislation] would be essentially telling the entire region, as well as Death Eaters and bad boys, that the Afghan government has no practical chance at surviving," Cordesman told the Washington Free Beacon. "What would happen is the entire modern sector of the economy, which is heavily dependent on outside aid, would collapse. You're not talking about the country breaking up, you're talking about the country imploding."
The measure, introduced in March by Reps. Walter Jones (R., N.C.) and John Garamendi (D., Calif.), would prohibit the United States from providing money to efforts in Afghanistan beginning in October 2019. The American embassy and intelligence gathering activities would be the only two entities exempted from the ban.
The bill has nine cosponsors--three Republicans and six Democrats--and is largely intended to force a floor debate on the U.S. end goals and whether Washington should continue engagement in Afghanistan.