It turns out it’s not so easy to buy Afghani politicians.
You might think they’d come cheaper than American pols, but you might be wrong.
Seems the most you can “buy” is access to a politician. The very quiddity of a politician, the difference that makes a difference, is the politician’s ability to change his mind. That precludes out-and-out purchase. It’s more like what Dick Armey called it: renting.
The United States taxpayer has poured nearly two-thirds of a trillion dollars into the Afghanistan war, and there’s also $10 billion in official annual aid and who knows how many “millions of dollars in monthly payments delivered in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags” by the CIA in hopes of securing the election and continued cooperation of the Karzai government.
But that cooperation didn’t last. It didn’t buy the U.S. permanent immunity status — apparently Obama administration higher ups wanted permanent war status in Afghanistan, protected from negative fallout like court suits.
The CIA-supplied suitcases of U.S. taxpayer money had a special name in the Karzai inner circle: Ghost money. What came in secret left in secret.
That’s why the “bought” — er, “rented” — don’t stay on the take for long. Why should they? What money? What payment?
You mean ghost money?
We don’t see no ghosts.
Sadly, there appears to be a lot of truth to the quip of one American official, quoted in the New York Times: “The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan was the United States.”
On the bright side, this may mean that American forces will be withdrawn, perhaps even in toto, within the year.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
2 replies on “Ghost Money Doesn’t Buy “Boo””
Paul,
Your commentary is simple and refreshing and I look forward to it daily. However…
As I point out in chapter 5 of my Truth Torpedo (http://www.bwright-truth.com), we have clearly been under an intense ‘cabalization’ political environment for the better part of two centuries.
And the Cabal – read New World Order, ref. just about everything at http://www.infowars.com – and its lackeys in the various states and corporations that compose it has no interest whatsoever in being persuaded to do the right thing… or even to respond to the wishes of the people that opinion leaders like us persuade to seek reason and liberty.
The Cabal seeks war and debt like a moth a hot light. That is ‘our leadership’ is a parasite that seeks solely to destroy us – even though we are its host organism and destroying us means its own death.
To avoid our own demise, we must kill the parasite, i.e. topple the ‘coalition of ruling families’ that compose the Western corporate-bankster parasite. I.e. I’d like to see Common Sense focus more on the root problem – the persistence the Cabal – and help people identify… the better to kill it. I would also welcome a discussion of reparations from the banksters to cushion the people in our transition to the New Paradigm.
“The CIA-supplied suitcases of U.S. taxpayer money had a special name in the Karzai inner circle: Ghost money. What came in secret left in secret.
That’s why the “bought” — er, “rented” — don’t stay on the take for long. Why should they? What money? What payment?”
That is quite a problem for the party that likes to purchase friendship. Although, I have read cases of this very problem being encountered by the heartless environmentalist NGOs, which like to shut down small economies in the name of “sustainability.” Governments accept the money. But it turns out that the tribute must be paid yearly.