With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan

[cvictorg]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/asia/cia-delivers-cash-to-afghan-leaders-office.html?_r=2&

For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.

All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”

Question - WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL THERE????

 

[CensoredBoardsSuck]

Question - WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL THERE????

On this, we are in complete agreement!

 

[cvictorg]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/w...as-assured-of-cash-deliveries-by-cia.html?hpw

The C.I.A. money, Mr. Karzai told reporters, was “an easy source of petty cash,” and some of it was used to pay off members of the political elite, a group dominated by warlords.

The use of the C.I.A. cash for payoffs has prompted criticism from many Afghans and some American and European officials, who complain that the agency, in its quest to maintain access and influence at the presidential palace, financed what is essentially a presidential slush fund. The practice, the officials say, effectively undercut a pillar of the American war strategy: the building of a clean and credible Afghan government to wean popular support from the Taliban.

Instead, corruption at the highest levels seems to have only worsened. The International Monetary Fund recently warned diplomats in Kabul that the Afghan government faced a potentially severe budget shortfall partly because of the increasing theft of customs duties and officially abetted tax evasion.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai sought to dampen the furor over the payments, describing them as one facet of the billions of dollars in aid Afghanistan receives each year. “This is nothing unusual,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/asia/blast-kills-7-soldiers-in-afghanistan.html?hp

Eight soldiers with the American-led military coalition were killed Saturday, making it the bloodiest day this year for Western troops fighting here.

Two were shot in an insider attack, one died in a small-arms attack and five Americans were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb, according to statements from the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan officials.

SO - AGAIN - Tell me why we're still there!!

C'MON - BARRY - WE'RE WAITING!!

 

[Mike Oxbig]

Question - WHY THE FUCK ARE WE STILL THERE????

Because everyone knows that the only way to fight terrorism is to declare multi-trillion dollar wars against an ideology.