Up to $1 Billion in U.S. Aid Winds Up In Taliban Coffers
As much as $1 billion in U.S. aid has been diverted from programs meant to stabilize Afghanistan and has wound up in the hands of the Taliban and other insurgency groups, war analysts and government auditors say.I wish I were surprised, I really do. But we're dealing with one incredibly inefficient and bloated bureaucracy (ours) and a culture steeped in corruption, graft, and thuggery (oops, ours again but this time applicable to the Taliban as well), so the fact that literally billions are being pissed away in bribes and payoffs isn't all that shocking. It's a sad fact that I'd find it more surprising if the story were that everything was functioning smoothly...
In fact, they say, graft has gotten so bad that the U.S. government estimates that only about 10 percent of the aid budget actually reaches the people in Afghanistan who need it.
You know what really jumped out at me? This:
But those familiar with the country say the scale of the corruption is far wider. “Virtually every transaction in Afghanistan involves some degree of payoff,” says Christine Fair of Georgetown University’s Center for Peace and Security Studies. “Everyone is getting a piece of the money. If you want to get a clinic built, you have to make sure everyone in the village is paid off.”Replace "Afghanistan" with "Chicago" or "New Orleans" and it's still true...
That is all.
Story sent by PISSED, who is holding onto the title of "sends me the most blood pressure spiking stuff" by a good margin...
4 comments:
It brings to mind post-colonial Africa. In the spirit of tolerance we tolerate corruption as part of the 'culture' and by doing so we give it legitimacy. If we actually had any real, rather than symbolic, interest in helping Afghanistan we would have made it a protectorate or annexed the country and made it's government subject to our legal system. At least we could get the corruption down to our own levels. Maybe.
Jay.. i heard that high blood pressure helps to keep the streptococcus bugs from entering the blood stream ;)
Reminds me of how the U.S. Govt had to deal with the Diem Gov't of South Vietnam in the early 60's, until the bastard was taken out in a Coup by his own Army/CIA. Perhaps Karzai needs a History lesson? Oh, wait, I'm sorry, that would mean the U.S. Gov't would actually have to take the Afghanistan War seriously. Never mind.
Frank Chadwick has been talking about the money screwing up Afghanistan for a while now.
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