Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday confirmed New York Times report that his office receives bags of cash from Iran on regular basis. Karzai said however that the bags of cash cover expenses of the Presidential Palace and the transactions are “transparent.” He did not elaborate why in transparent transactions, the monies should be delivered in bags. Afghanistan has a sophisticated banking system and the monies could be transferred from one government to the other. Neither did Karzai explain how the process of the delivery of plastic bags stuffed with hard currency (Euro) to the president of the country could possibly be called transparent.
Sources: Afghanistan's Tolou and all major news wires.
10 comments:
Iran helps karzai to fight taliban
iran helps talibans to fight USA
Taliban&USA are both enemy von Iran und world peace
may god help and both of them kill each other
Afghans are always for hire, hence the mess in their country which the US invasion and a brutal occupation has made worse. Iranian influence will always remain in Afghanistan as it was part of eastern Iranian provinces. Iran is wisely playing the strategic realpolitik. Increasing trade and economic influence is also a good move along with supporting Shia, Haraza and Tajik allies in the Northern Alliance. The Pashtuns, the major Taliban affiliated ethnic group will be a thorn in the side of an imploding Pakistan and the US for a long-time. Iranian policy of low key soft power is winning both hearts and minds in the region.
These bags of cash could only prove the corrupt nature of the government in Kabul, and as Mr. Karzai told reporters on Monday, they have accepted many of these bags not just from Iran, but from "many other countries." So Iranians need to be careful not to waste their bags on them, they are accepting them from everywhere!
Nader you omitted Karzai's admission to alsoreceiving bundles of cash payments from the US, and "several other countries". The US State Dept spokesman PJ Crowley later confirmed Karzai's statement.
It is good when so!
Anon 6:50 PM,
Agreed, I also mentioned that in the comments section. The original post was concentrating on Iran. This man is accepting cash from everyone!!
Gentlemen, all your comments are factual. The simple fact is that the tribal Afghan society has a PRICE for everything. Since the time of Alexander, the Afghan warlords have been bribed, bought and hired by various foreign powers. During the British/Russian GREAT GAME of the 18th century it was routine to buy Pashtun tribes on both sides of the Durand Line (the artificial British imperial Af-Pak border in the tribal areas).
The CIA itself bribed and paid bags full of dollars to the Northern Alliance,Popalzai,Wardak, Jaji, Tani, Jadran, Mangal and other tribes prior to the US invasion in 2002. Doling out millions of dollars to Pakistani Pashtun and Baluch tribes along with Zardari and the corrupt generals is also part of US modus-operandi.
Bribery, corruption, backstabbing and changing horses and political patrons mid-stream in part of Afghan "culture", so Iran, US, UK, Canada, EU and even Russia and China doling out money is nothing new. China has paid bribes to the Afghan tribes in excess of $250 million just to keep its Aynak copper mines south of Kabul in Logar and Wardak areas open and safe from Taliban and insurgent attacks.
Iran's "political monetary" contribution to the Karzai club of under the table brown-paper bag donors is literally peanuts and grand bargain at 675,000 Euros.
A couple of million dollar per year....
That my dear is elegant diplomacy.
Exactly what Israel does with France,... Exactly what the USA does with Georgia.....Exactly what Saudi Arabia does with Pakistan.....
should I go on ??
Sir Dariush London
This reeks of the usual NYT spin to get rid of Karzai in favor of the more servile Abdullah.
I don't know much about Afghan banking but my guess is it's the same mess as any other Afghan institution with maybe the only parts working, the strings the Yankee masters are pulling. Besides they would be the first to locally implement their extra-judicial banking sanctions on Iran.
So without the spin: there's nothing "secret" about probably the majority of recent cash deposits in the Afghan context. Karzai just can't afford non-yankee slush funds anymore.
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@Nader 0743..
Isn't it impossible to concentrate on Iran without regard to its strategic environment? That's just like saying the US occupied Japan without mentioning WW2! It produces a skewed picture to say the least.
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