The news on the front page of the New York Times (4/29/13) was that Afghan President Hamid Karzai receives regular deliveries of cash from, among others, our own Central Intelligence Agency. And it made it onto the NBC Nightly News (4/29/13), where anchor Brian Williams had a most peculiar reaction:
Throughout the past decade of deaths and grievous injuries to Americans fighting in Afghanistan, including a cost to this nation of more than $600 billion, Americans have been told our point man there is the popularly elected President Hamid Karzai, and we have been reassured he has U.S. interests at heart. Well, that took a blow today when we woke up to the news that Karzai has been receiving bags of cash from the CIA among others. That would be U.S. taxpayer money.
Huh. So the fact that Karzai received money from the United States, presumably in order to do things the U.S. wants him to do, means that he might not have “U.S. interests at heart”? Did we expect him to turn the money down to prove his heart was true?
Andrea Mitchell advanced the story, reporting that “somewhat incredibly, Hamid Karzai today confirmed that the CIA has, in fact, been dropping off bags of cash at his National Security Office for years.” She explained:
U.S. officials say that the money is used to buy the loyalty of warlords as well as cover some off-the-book operations. We checked with the White House, State Department, the CIA, none of whom would deny this report.
So from the sound of it, U.S. officials were paying Karzai to do things they wanted him to do. If giving Karzai cash is the problem, Williams should be upset with the CIA, or with the U.S. government in general. (As the Times piece noted, in 2010 reports that Iran delivering cash to a Karzai aide made the U.S. government furious.)
The Times‘ Matthew Rosenberg points out:
Like the Iranian cash, much of the CIA’s money goes to paying off warlords and politicians, many of whom have ties to the drug trade and, in some cases, the Taliban. The result, American and Afghan officials said, is that the agency has greased the wheels of the same patronage networks that American diplomats and law enforcement agents have struggled unsuccessfully to dismantle, leaving the government in the grips of what are basically organized crime syndicates.
It’s fine to be shocked and/or appalled by this news–but it’s rather odd to direct your anger at Karzai for not having U.S. “interests at heart” because he’s on the U.S. payroll.
I think this all speaks to the myth, propagated by the corpress at every opportunity, that “US interests” are synonymous with our interests, rather than the desires of those in power.
Karzai is their “point man”
As countless other dictators and sham “democrats” have been through the ages.
Don’t expect Williams or any other corporate media shill to acknowledge that historical fact.
There are so many things wrong with this story that main stream media does not even discuss. For one this seems to indicate that government of Afganistan is not a sovereign government of the people of Afganistan but a US puppet. Media also presents this story with the spin that CIA wasted this money since Karzai was critical of the US in public yet CIA (stupidly) continued to pay him. Well perhaps CIA is not stupid and they were in fact getting what they wanted. Question to ask would be why was CIA paying Karzai, and not just assume that CIA made a misstake.
American Oblivion…
Working America returns home from Exploitation Land, and, feeling defeated, spent, demoralized, dehumanized, etc., it turns to–what?–Television Land, and–gee, willikers!–Herr Brian!
Herr Williams’ job is to continue the day work of predatory capitalism: the Programme as laid out for you (as any good adherent of Thatcherite politics will tell you) is ALL there is. You feel…depressed, don’t you? Aha–just as we thought! Have we got a commercial for you! And, it’s coming into view..ten, nine, eight…NOW:
AGENCY: “You NEED to buy ‘X’…You NEED to OWN ‘X’! BUY ‘X’ and–voila!–blessed American oblivion! Do not think! Thinking hurts right about now, doesn’t it? Of course it does! Oblivion…oblivion…obliv…”
WILLIAMS: Today, it was determined that a [clears phlegm from throat]…Muslim…of some authority is in possession of US dollars–YOUR tax dollars! [oblivion…oblivion…] Disgusted, aren’t you? Darn disgusted with…’them’…! I know, my beloved Americans…WE can be frank with one another, you and I…But WAIT–there’s more! Much, much, MUCH more…[oblivion…oblivion…]…
ye olde Business Programme:
1) manufacture exploitation
2) manufacture consent
3) repeat
Williams says “Americans have been told… but…”. He’s not saying the problem is with Karzai, but that it’s the lies being told by the US government about him.
Ahh, well… the CIA has often collected funds which haven’t originated as “taxpayer money”. For example, in the Golden Triangle in the 1970s it was a byproduct of the support “we” provided for General Kun Sa (and the sale of his ‘product’ to help pay for the weaponry “we” provided). In the 1980s in Central AMERICA the CIA creatively exploited the ‘products’ of the region to provide non-taxpayer funds to provide weaponry to the Contras in Nicaragua.
I’m certain that the Agency can come across a source of ‘funds’ that won’t involve tapping the American taxpayer directly. ^..^
My father had a saying……..When you lay down with dogs you end up with fleas.This “ilk”, in this part of the world -is a pestilence on mankind.As horrible as that sounds, and as much as I wish it were not true….. Im sadly seeing that it is.
Wow, money paid to our dictators and lackeys. The shame! No not shame, just the way we and other countries do business. If they don’t like to support the drug war then stop fighting it. So that the prices can come down to a normal level.