The CIA has been sending huge amounts of cash to the Afghan government for the past decade
Original title: The CIA sent "ghost money" to the Afghan President's office
Strange: To the President's office to send a huge amount of cash < p>
Not strange: The US CIA naked manipulation of internal affairs
According to US media reports, Afghan President Hamid Karzai admitted on May 4 that the Afghan government has been receiving cash from the US Central Intelligence Agency for the past decade. The CIA had promised him on the same day that it would continue to provide such cash in the future. The New York Times previously revealed that for the past decade, the CIA has been sending dollar cash in suitcases, backpacks or plastic bags almost monthly to the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an effort to buy off senior government officials and consolidate U.S. influence over the Afghan government. Over the past decade, the CIA has sent tens of millions of dollars in cash directly to Karzai's office. The revelation caused an uproar in Afghanistan and the United States.
Against this backdrop, Karzai met with the CIA station chief in Kabul on May 4. Later that day, at a news conference, Karzai said he told the CIA station chief in Kabul, "Please don't stop giving us money because of the rumors in the media, because we really need the money... The money has helped us a lot and solved a lot of problems for us." Karzai argued that it was a favor from one government agency to another and "nothing out of the ordinary." But at the same time, he said "we are not allowed" to reveal exactly how much money the CIA paid.
Both the CIA and the US embassy in Afghanistan have so far declined to comment on the matter.It is an open secret that the CIA has long supported some of Karzai's relatives, aides and some Afghan warlords through various means, but the fact that the CIA has directly sent such a large amount of cash to the Afghan president's office is the first time it has come to light, which sounds strange. Roman, who served as deputy chief of staff to President Karzai from 2002 to 2005, said people referred to the huge amounts of political donations from the CIA as "ghost money."
The CIA's practice has drawn criticism not only in Afghanistan and China, but also in the United States and Europe. Many believe that while the United States claims to support the establishment of a clean, efficient and self-sustaining government in Afghanistan, the CIA's actions only exacerbate corruption in the country. The International Monetary Fund recently warned that the Afghan government is in danger of running a fiscal hole, in part because of increasing corruption of customs revenue and tax evasion supported by officials. "In fact, the biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan is the United States," a U.S. official said. Karzai's admission that some of the CIA cash went to Afghanistan's "political elite" added to the concern. The so-called "political elite" in Afghanistan are mostly local warlords. In other words, some of the CIA's cash goes directly into the pockets of warlords across Afghanistan. Some of them also have ties to the drug trade, the Taliban and even al-Qaida. From this perspective, the CIA is indirectly funding the drug trade and the Al Qaeda network. This is one of the reasons why U.S. diplomatic efforts and law enforcement have not been successful in tackling drug and terrorist groups in Afghanistan, and why the Afghan government is partly controlled by organized crime groups.The United States has said that it will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 2014, but the situation in Afghanistan is "uncertain and unpredictable". The disclosure of the CIA's direct cash delivery to Karzai's office has also raised questions from some members of the US Congress. Tennessee Senator Bob Corker sent a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern that the payments encourage corruption at the top of the Afghan government, undermine the trust of U.S. taxpayers, and show a "disarray" in U.S. policy toward Afghanistan, and demanded an explanation.
(Washington, May 5, People.cn)