CIA Money In Afghanistan (Update May 2, 2013)

Feeding The Hand That Bites -- Fred Kaplan, Slate

Corruption is a huge problem for the U.S. in Afghanistan. So why is the CIA funding it?

And so it turns out, the war in Afghanistan has been an even bigger mug’s game than we imagined. The latest blow comes from a story by Matthew Rosenberg in the April 28 New York Times, reporting that, for the past decade, the CIA has been dropping off bags of cash—now totaling tens of millions of dollars—at the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who in turn has passed it around to his cronies and favored warlords.

This is a very big deal, much more than most scandals about secret payoffs and bribes. It suggests that, in a crucial way, the war was a sham from the get-go, that the conditions for success would never—could never—be fulfilled, and that our own actions helped ensure our failure.

Read more ....

More News On The CIA "Slush Fund" For Afghan President Karzai

CIA: Buying peace in Afghanistan? -- Al Jazeera
White House mum on bags of cash for Karzai -- Politico
CIA cash To Afghanistan -- Bloomberg Businessweek
CIA cash wrecks Afghan president's image -- Global Post/AFP
Karzai Responds to 'Bags of CIA Money' Allegations -- Voice of America
Afghan President Says CIA Cash Payments Were Small And Legit -- NPR
Afghan confirms the US has made payments to his national security team for a decade -- Washington Post/AP
Hamid Karzai confirms CIA payments to Afghan government -- The Telegraph
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan -- New York Times
CIA gave tens of millions of dollars to Afghan president in suitcases and sacks ‘for access to Karzai’s inner circle’ -- Daily Mail
Millions in CIA 'ghost money' paid to Afghan president's office: New York Times -- Chicago Tribune/Reuters
CIA gave millions in cash to Karzai -- The Australian
Afghan president confirms receiving CIA cash -- Global Post/AFP
CIA-funded corruption: Top Afghan officials on secret US payroll – report -- RT
The CIA Gave Karzai Bags Full of Cash for Over a Decade -- The Atlantic
CIA 'ghost money': Millions in bribe money paid by U.S. to Afghanistan leaders -- Examiner
Report: CIA cash to Afghans hasn't always gained desired results -- UPI
How the CIA’s Bags of Cash Undermined the Afghanistan War -- Spencer Ackerman, Danger Room
CIA “Ghost Money” to Afghan Regime Yields Phantom Returns -- Michael Tennant, The New American
Do bags of cash ever help the CIA get what it wants? -- Elias Groll, Passport/Foreign Policy
A Brief History of CIA "Ghost Money" -- Asawin Suebsaeng, Mother Jones
Secret Cash To Afghan Leader: Corruption Or Just Foreign Aid? -- Sean Carberry, NPR
CIA hasn’t learned much from mistakes -- Elias Groll, Herald Online/Foreign Policy

My Comment: This story is now a few days old .... but my blood still boils over when I read it.