NYT: Iran financing Karzai’s government

[unhappycamper]

NYT: Iran financing Karzai’s government
By Daniel Tencer
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 -- 7:03 pm

Iran is providing a "secret, steady stream of cash" to the Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai in order to drive a wedge between Afghanistan and the US and promote Iranian interests in Kabul, the New York Times reports.

It's the latest sign that the conflict between Western forces and insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan may have become so tangled as to make it virtually impossible to tell friend from foe.

The Times reports that Iranian officials have handed over "millions of dollars" in cash primarily to Umar Daudzai, President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff. The money is used "to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty," according to unnamed officials quoted in the report.

A spokesperson for Daudzai has called the allegation "rubbish," while a spokesperson for Feda Hussein Maliki, Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, called it “devilish gossip by the West and foreign media.”

"The payments to Mr. Daudzai illustrate the degree to which the Iranian government has penetrated Mr. Karzai’s inner circle despite his presumed alliance with the United States and the other NATO countries," the Times' Dexter Filkins reports.

[madrchsod]

1. now where would those dollars come from?

oh yes...where did those pallets of billions of dollars in iraq go....

[spanone]

2. get the fuck out. now.