Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been called a “puppet president” by some and leader of a corrupt regime by others. Now he tells – but does not surprise – the collective world media that he has been receiving “bags of cash” from Iran and the U.S. for years. One wonders whether those political enemies are pleased with the Karzai their money can buy.
Hamid Karzai takes money for ‘official presidential expenses’
Hamid Karzai gets about $700,000 to $975,000 in gifts as “donations” from Iran once or twice a year. Washington also sends the Afghan palace “bags of money” according to Karzai, who says the U.S. has known about the Iranian assistance for some time. Many suspect that Karzai gave this information to everyone in order to keep his chief of staff from getting in trouble. Umar Daudzai also had been getting money from Iran, reports the New York Times. Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and high-ranking Taliban officials have been paid with this money.
Karzai says ‘several nations’ help with his lack of revenue by giving him money
Before the Taliban regime in 2001 fell, Afghanistan’s economy was really bad, reports the CIA World Factbook. The nation has been getting international assistance but is still considered poor and “highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture and trade with neighboring countries.” This is supposedly true even though opium and hashish product comes from Afghanistan more than anywhere else in the world. It makes sense that Hamid Karzai wouldn’t be interested in enforcing the rules about illegal drug trade that the Obama administration has accused him of having since the business makes the country a ton of money. Today’s Views did a poll in Afghanistan. It shows that the majority of the public thinks Karzai hasn’t done much for the country. The reason for this, say various sources on Wikipedia, is not what people assume. As Afghanistan’s economy is agriculture-based – and poppies constitute the nation’s number one cash crop – poor farmers are reportedly being forced to feed the drug trade, but a fair share of the money doesn’t go to them.
Information from
Associated Press: http://newser.com/article/d9j2lc780/afghan-president-says-iran-and-us-give-bags-of-money-to-help-its-office.html
The Odora: http://theodora.com/wfbcurrent/afghanistan/afghanistan_economy.html
Today’s Views: http://todaysviews.com/?p=781
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_production_in_Afghanistan
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