The CIA Gave Millions in Cash to Afghan President for Over a Decade

In order to gain access to Afghan president Hamid Karzai's inner circle, the CIA secretly sent tens of millions of dollars to Karzai's office each month for over a decade. The money, all cash, was delivered packed in suitcases, backpacks, and plastic bags, reports NYT.

More from NYT:

All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.

“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”

The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing.

Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.[...]

The United States was not alone in delivering cash to the president. Mr. Karzai acknowledged a few years ago that Iran regularly gave bags of cash to one of his top aides.

UPDATE

Peter Klein tweets:

With this kind of fiscal stimulus, it's a wonder there is any unemployment in Afghanistan! #KeynesRulz nytimes.com/2013/04/29/wor…
— Peter G. Klein (@petergklein) April 29, 2013