"Behind a seemingly never-ending game of brinkmanship with the United States over a bilateral security agreement, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has a simple goal, according to U.S. military officials: Ensure that billions of dollars in aid from Washington continues to flow to feed the cycle of corruption that keeps him in power.
But Pentagon officials say the CIA has helped feed the system with “off-the-books” satchels of cash -- “tens of millions of dollars” that it delivers to the Presidential Palace in Kabul on a regular schedule.
The cash payments began prior to Karzai becoming president on Dec. 22, 2001, beginning while he was in exile during the last years of the Taliban regime, one former U.S. intelligence official told NBC News, speaking on condition of anonymity. It's not clear if Karzai would continue to be the conduit for such payments after he leaves office.
The CIA declined to comment on the payments.
Karzai openly admits receiving the money, saying he needs it to pay government officials. But there is zero accountability and it’s widely accepted within the U.S. government that whatever Karzai doesn’t pocket he doles out in political and protection payoffs. He also is believed to have smuggled “hundreds of millions of dollars” out of the country, much of which flowed directly from the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. military officials say."
CHANGE.
The very fact that we threatened to leave, and take our money with us, is proof that we don't need to be there. What can Obama say? Seriously.
