8am: U.S. and international financial aid to Afghanistan is helping strengthen the Taliban’s power, former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko revealed. “The Taliban have cynically benefited from our desire to help,” Sopko said at the Herat Security Dialogue XII in Madrid, Spain, last week. “Our assistance has allowed the regime to prioritize funding their security and intelligence services to strengthen their stranglehold on power.” In SIGAR investigations, Sopko and his team have gathered information on the Taliban infiltrating UN groups in Afghanistan. There have been several reports published on corruption between UN agencies and the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).