Questioning Aid

The U.S. government’s counter-terrorism aid to allies in the war on terror has skyrocketed since 2001, but a new report from the Government Accountability Office faults how funds are used in the State Department’s Antiterrorism Assistance program (ATA). The GAO found that the State Department spends the funding without assessing needs and has failed to give Congress mandatory annual reports on ATA since 1996.

The State Department agreed with GAO’s findings. The agency said that it plans changes and expects closer congressional oversight, according to the report.