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House panel denies aid to Afghanistan
A key House panel voted Wednesday to cut off almost $4 billion in aid to the government of Afghanistan pending an investigation into charges that Afghan officials are blocking corruption probes and huge amounts of foreign aid is being stolen.
The bipartisan move by the foreign aid appropriations subcommittee comes after The Washington Post reported that top officials in President Hamid Karzai's government were blocking corruption probes of political allies and amid widespread assumptions that Afghan powerbrokers are moving millions of dollars out of the country.
The panel's chairwoman, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., is instead demanding that the Government Accountability Office conduct an audit of billions of dollar of past U.S. aid.