Tweet
By Syed A’ayan Hussain According to recent report of The New York Times, Iran had been sending millions of dollars to Karzai’s chief of staff, who is using the foreign cash to secure the loyalty of Afghan lawmakers, tribal leaders and even Taliban commanders. The paper further revealed that Iran uses its influence to “drive a wedge” between the Afghans and their American and Nato benefactors. However, the Iranian embassy in Afghanistan dismissed the newspaper report as “ridiculous and insulting”.
Contrary to this dismissal from Iranian side, President Hamid Karzai admitted that his office received cash payments not only from Iran but from “various friendly countries,” including the United States and also accused the United States of leaking Iranian payments because of disagreements over the private security companies. Offended by President Karzai’s disclosure of receiving cash payments from the US, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs denied giving Afghanistan “bags of cash”. He said that “Washington is not in the big bags of cash business.”
Whether Iran is sending money to provide aid for reconstruction purpose or to build-up guards against foreign occupation, whether Washington denies big bags of cash business or be skeptical about Iran’s motives, taking into consideration what he called its history of playing a destabilizing role in the region. The fact remains that billions of dollars and cash money is pouring into Afghanistan in the name of aid, reconstruction and rehabilitation. Paradoxically, those huge amounts instead of making any significant contribution to the lives of impoverished and war-battered Afghans have placed Afghanistan at Number Two in the Global Corruption Report 2010 released by Transparency International. And surprisingly the US sleazed itself out of the 20 cleanest countries, falling to 22 in this year’s rankings.
What is notable among this reporting of the lowest of the low and the dirtiest of the dirty is that in the decade ending on January 1, 2011, the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, which are now two of the four most corrupt nations of the world. Certainty of some connection here cannot be ruled out.
Because in both countries, boxes and bags and even truckloads of cash, billions and billions of dollars of it, were flown in by the US and Western allies and shoveled into the outstretched arms of politicians, tribal chiefs, warlords, drug lords and even enemy combatants. There was little to no accountability and so billions have simply gone missing, flown out of the country and deposited into numbered bank accounts in stable countries like Switzerland.
On 05 July, 2010 wrote Susanne Koelbl in her article, “since invading Afghanistan in 2001, the United States alone has invested almost $300 billion in military and reconstruction efforts there. But far less progress has been made than what was either hoped for or expected. One major reason for this could be the fact that a significant portion of the millions meant for reconstructive efforts continue to be siphoned off. The people benefiting are often those who enjoy extremely close business ties with the donor countries”.
Though reality bites but the truth is that Afghanistan has been a goldmine for quite a few adventurous businesspeople especially over the past nine years. The most successful of them are often related to members of the government, who give them unsurpassed access to the top decision-makers.
And their financial transactions are, of course, far from transparent. And this all affected none but the Afghan masses. Living under not-so-friendly fires, extremist tendencies and corrupt coalition forces and the government the Afghans have learned from their daily lives that the rules of life are quite simple: Everything is possible, but everything has a price.
Time is critical. Therefore, international actors must not indulge in accusing others to hide their own follies. The world peace is calling to end dirty war being pursued from Afghan soil and let that war-ravaged nation heave a sigh of relief and country rebuild itself.
Foreign aid and corruption in Afghanistan
Contrary to this dismissal from Iranian side, President Hamid Karzai admitted that his office received cash payments not only from Iran but from “various friendly countries,” including the United States and also accused the United States of leaking Iranian payments because of disagreements over the private security companies. Offended by President Karzai’s disclosure of receiving cash payments from the US, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs denied giving Afghanistan “bags of cash”. He said that “Washington is not in the big bags of cash business.”
Whether Iran is sending money to provide aid for reconstruction purpose or to build-up guards against foreign occupation, whether Washington denies big bags of cash business or be skeptical about Iran’s motives, taking into consideration what he called its history of playing a destabilizing role in the region. The fact remains that billions of dollars and cash money is pouring into Afghanistan in the name of aid, reconstruction and rehabilitation. Paradoxically, those huge amounts instead of making any significant contribution to the lives of impoverished and war-battered Afghans have placed Afghanistan at Number Two in the Global Corruption Report 2010 released by Transparency International. And surprisingly the US sleazed itself out of the 20 cleanest countries, falling to 22 in this year’s rankings.
What is notable among this reporting of the lowest of the low and the dirtiest of the dirty is that in the decade ending on January 1, 2011, the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, which are now two of the four most corrupt nations of the world. Certainty of some connection here cannot be ruled out.
Because in both countries, boxes and bags and even truckloads of cash, billions and billions of dollars of it, were flown in by the US and Western allies and shoveled into the outstretched arms of politicians, tribal chiefs, warlords, drug lords and even enemy combatants. There was little to no accountability and so billions have simply gone missing, flown out of the country and deposited into numbered bank accounts in stable countries like Switzerland.
On 05 July, 2010 wrote Susanne Koelbl in her article, “since invading Afghanistan in 2001, the United States alone has invested almost $300 billion in military and reconstruction efforts there. But far less progress has been made than what was either hoped for or expected. One major reason for this could be the fact that a significant portion of the millions meant for reconstructive efforts continue to be siphoned off. The people benefiting are often those who enjoy extremely close business ties with the donor countries”.
Though reality bites but the truth is that Afghanistan has been a goldmine for quite a few adventurous businesspeople especially over the past nine years. The most successful of them are often related to members of the government, who give them unsurpassed access to the top decision-makers.
And their financial transactions are, of course, far from transparent. And this all affected none but the Afghan masses. Living under not-so-friendly fires, extremist tendencies and corrupt coalition forces and the government the Afghans have learned from their daily lives that the rules of life are quite simple: Everything is possible, but everything has a price.
Time is critical. Therefore, international actors must not indulge in accusing others to hide their own follies. The world peace is calling to end dirty war being pursued from Afghan soil and let that war-ravaged nation heave a sigh of relief and country rebuild itself.
Foreign aid and corruption in Afghanistan