Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Afghan Taliban's finances - the West should win
Not just zakat (10% of poppy grower's earnings) but also ushr (another 10%) and also 2 kilos of poppy paste during harvest and now also 12,000 (paki) rupees per household. Extortion, nothing else. Surely a decent Afghan Govt can at least stop this.
Also there is a variety of other sources, including private contributions from Persian Gulf states.
Anecdotal evidence is mounting that the Taliban are taking a hefty portion of assistance money coming into Afghanistan from the outside. Very high-level negotiations take place between the Taliban and major US contractors, according to sources close to the process. For example "The manager of an Afghan firm with lucrative construction contracts with the U.S. government builds in a minimum of 20 percent for the Taliban in his cost estimates. The manager, who will not speak openly, has told friends privately that he makes in the neighborhood of $1 million per month. Out of this, $200,000 is siphoned off for the insurgents".
IMO: So there we have it, the USA is once again financing its enemies, just like it did in Vietnam. So we have the rich, fat Taliban and the poor Western forces. On the face of it, the desperate poor guy (USA) should be able to beat the rich, fat guy (Taliban). Plenty of material to show how this works, as long as facts are faced.
Also there is a variety of other sources, including private contributions from Persian Gulf states.
Anecdotal evidence is mounting that the Taliban are taking a hefty portion of assistance money coming into Afghanistan from the outside. Very high-level negotiations take place between the Taliban and major US contractors, according to sources close to the process. For example "The manager of an Afghan firm with lucrative construction contracts with the U.S. government builds in a minimum of 20 percent for the Taliban in his cost estimates. The manager, who will not speak openly, has told friends privately that he makes in the neighborhood of $1 million per month. Out of this, $200,000 is siphoned off for the insurgents".
IMO: So there we have it, the USA is once again financing its enemies, just like it did in Vietnam. So we have the rich, fat Taliban and the poor Western forces. On the face of it, the desperate poor guy (USA) should be able to beat the rich, fat guy (Taliban). Plenty of material to show how this works, as long as facts are faced.
# posted by uv : 7:21 AM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
