It has long been rumored that Iran is indirectly involved in assisting the Taliban attack Americans. Now, according to a story broke by the Sunday Times in London, and discussed in this MSNBC video, there is proof of the actual trail some of these funds take.
An investigative reporter for the Sunday Times followed a Taliban treasurer to discover the route the money travels from Iran to Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. First, Iranian construction companies are founded for the sole purpose of funneling money. Next, these companies bid on contracts paid for by foreign investors (like the US government). Any profits from these jobs are transferred to legitimate banks in Tehran and Dubai. From there, it is transferred to accounts in Kabul that use an archaic system of banking, perfect for hiding the Iranians tracks. This system leaves no trace of who touches the money, or where it goes. However, the Sunday Times of London investigation revealed that it is taken to shadow governors of Afghan provinces, for distribution to his Taliban fighters.
In the past six months, more than $100,000 has been transferred this way. The Iranians are paying $1,000 for each American fighter killed, and $6,000 for each armored vehicle destroyed.
If your house is flooding, you stop the water at its source. You don't start using the bucket to clean up the mess until the problem is identified, and fixed. I think our government may have to think about using this approach when dealing with Iran going forward.
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10/24
Iran Is Said to Give Top Karzai Aide Cash by the Bagful (NYT, by Dexter Filkins, 10/23/2010)
It seems that Iran is paying lots of people in an effort to undermine American efforts in the Middle East. According to the above linked article, President Karzai's chief of staff Umar Daudzai received a bagful of cash from Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, Feda Hussein Maliki. In a scene straight out of a Tom Clancy novel, the ambassador made the President of Afghanistan's plane wait because he was late making his special delivery last September. Apparently, this package was not the only one Mr. Daudzai procured from Iranian sources.
"The bag of money is part of a secret, steady stream of Iranian cash intended to buy the loyalty of Mr. Daudzai and promote Iran’s interests in the presidential palace, according to Afghan and Western officials."
We are not talking about small chunks of change. Estimates range that Mr. Daudazai's personal monthly payments totaled between $1 and $6 million. Though it is unknown how much of this money the Chief of Staff keeps for himself, it is known that he owns six houses around the world. Separate payments to the Afghan palace were also made on a regular basis, directly into the coffers at the disposal of President Karzai.
"The payments, which officials say total millions of dollars, form an off-the-books fund that Mr. Daudzai and Mr. Karzai have used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty, the officials said."
Carefully planned Iranian donations also played a roll in last months Parliamentary election in Afghanistan. The excuse that the Afghan finance minister gave, namely that Iran is Afghanistan's neighbor, we have to take the money, seems really suspect to me. I wonder if he, too, is getting payments on the side from Ahmadinejad's government.
The results of all this Iranian infiltration into Afghan politics cannot be overstated. Dardazai's ability to manipulate Karzai's daily agenda so that he only hears complaints about American efforts is just one of many examples this conflict of interest is having in the war-torn nation. Once again, as I have stated elsewhere on this blog many times now, American focus needs to be shifted to the real power players in the Middle East if progress is ever going to be made there. The biggest player of all is obviously Iran.
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11.8
Gates: Sanctions are impacting Iran (CNN, 11/8/2010)
I do not agree with the assessment of Defense Secretary Gates. I do not think that "sanctions are impacting Iran." Our diplomatic pussyfooting around has given Iran the time it needed to build its arsenal to the point that, as Senator Lindsey Graham puts it, "a conventional limited air strike 'won't take them out. . . Instead of a surgical strike on their nuclear infrastructure, I think we're to the point now that you have to really neuter the regime's ability to wage war against us and our allies. And that's a different military scenario. It's not a ground invasion but it certainly destroys the ability of the regime to strike back.'" This would include targeting the Iranian navy and air force, thereby limiting the ability of the enemy to transport its weapons.
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