Afghan Officials Taking Cash Out Of The Country - In Suitcases & Biscuit Boxes

[eleny]

Andrea Mitchell discussing this on her tv program now with Michael Isikoff. Karzai protecting certain individuals, meddling in court cases.

They're smuggling the money out to Dubai in suitcases.

This is as much as I heard after tuning in to MSNBC.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. No doubt to be invested in "defense" industry stocks in the USA. k&r

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Or hidden in offshore accounts.

Same pattern over and over...

[eleny]

3. I found an article so here's a link detailing "flagrant corruption"

"As President Obama prepares to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, U.S. officials on the ground are despairing over what some describe as the flagrant corruption of President Hamid Karzai's government.

Among the most alarming developments: mounting evidence that Afghan government officials are spiriting millions of dollars in illicitly gained assets out of the country to the Persian Gulf.

A special U.S. money-laundering task force, dubbed the Afghan Threat Finance Cell, is monitoring the movements. "It's very blatant—they are literally smuggling suitcases of bulk cash and moving them to Dubai," said one U.S. official familiar with the money movements as well as other recent investigations into Afghan corruption.

In one recent high-profile case, two officials of the Hajj and Islamic Affairs Ministry were arrested at Kabul International Airport trying to carry $360,000—some of it hidden in biscuit boxes—out of the country."

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2009/12/04/annals-of-afghan-corruption-government-officials-smuggle-suitcases-of-cash-to-dubai-while-drug-trade-thrives.aspx

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Well, it's all part of the "plan" to destroy al-Queda...or something equally noble.

[eleny]

6. Maybe they planned on bailing out Dubai?

:sarcasm:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Happily, some of it will probably end up as campaign donations to certain hawks(D).

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised that the payoffs..er, contributions, are a continuation of an established policy.

[eleny]

11. It's irritating that Karzai is meddling in some of the narcotics cases

Getting arrests dropped.

I guess this will all be business as usual. Americans dying for bullshit. The powerful carry on taking care of each other.

[onethatcares]

16. "monitoring the movements"

"it's very blatant" WTF is wrong with this picture. Get pulled over with 2K in your pocket and try to explain that you've been saving it and just thought you'd go shopping. How fast can you spell "contraband siezure".


Face it, from the 365 Million that disappeared in Iraq, thank you IPA and Paul Brenner to this fiasco, we're a bunch of taxpaying patsies that are getting it from all sides.

But we can't afford a public option in the Healthcare debate, ohh noes.

Gaud dammmint, we are farked.

[kenny blankenship]

4. It really burns you Liberals up to see someone doing well and getting ahead, doesn't it?

It's a free country and a global economy -no thanks to you lot!

[eleny]

7. _

[Obamanaut]

8. Now this turn of events is certainly a surprise. Who would have suspected

it to happen?

:sarcasm:

[eleny]

9. One more sentence from the article...

"The vast majority of the illicit funds are derived from a booming narcotics trade that U.S. officials say is still being protected by Karzai's government."

No wonder his voice started to crack when Amanpour discussed the corruption during her interview with him yesterday on CNN.

[BeFree]

12. You just wait

Obama and the MIC will put a halt to that. They promised!!

[eleny]

13. The MIC got its pony

[aquart]

14. Dubai? That's the air hub. They have to stop there.

But I do hope they don't leave "their" money there. It could vanish in an instant.

[reggie the dog]

15. Heroin, hash, these things pay well

gotta get the money somewhere else to launder it I imagine... what is the cut they get in Dubai???

[eleny]

19. Must be a big biscuit tin

My guess is that Dubai welcomes them with open arms... and open palms.

[bigtree]

17. at the same time we're set to put money and resources in

brilliant

[eleny]

18. and soldiers