President Hamid Karzai says he takes totes of cash from Iran

Hamid Karzi’s presidency in Afghanistan has been full of questions regarding competency and trustworthiness. Now the Associated Press reports that Karzai says he has been taking “bags of cash” from Iran and also the United States for many years. One wonders whether those political enemies are pleased with the Karzai their money can buy.

Cash taken by Hamid Karzai for ‘official presidential expenses’

Hamid Karzai gets about $700,000 to $975,000 in gifts as “donations” from Iran once or twice a year. Karzai said that the United States government has known about this Iranian assistance for years and that Washington also sends the Afghan palace “bags of money.”. Iran had been providing Umar Daudzai money, reports the New York Times, which is why many think Karzai might have made this announcement. The cash has been paying for high-ranking Taliban officials. Supposedly it also went to Afghan lawmakers and tribal elders.

Money goes to Karzai from ’several nations’ because his earnings are lacking

According to the CIA World Factbook, Afghanistan’s economy had been in shambles before the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. International assistance has aided recovery, but the nation is still considered poor and “highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture and trade with neighboring countries.”. This is supposedly true even though opium and hashish product comes from Afghanistan more than anywhere else in the world. It makes sense that Hamid Karzai would not be interested in enforcing the rules about illegal drug trade the Obama administration has accused him of having since the business makes the country a ton of money.

Afghan polls cited by Today’s Views indicate that Karzai’s public views him as an ineffective ruler. Wikipedia talks about the reasons for this. It is not what you might think actually. The economy in Afghanistan is agriculture depending. Since poppies sell probably the most in Afghanistan, poor farmers end up in the drug business whether or not that is what they’d hope to be doing. The farmers do not end up getting much money out of it either. Numerous think that this is because they aren’t sending Karzai his money like other nations are.

Citations

Associated Press

newser.com/article/d9j2lc780/afghan-president-says-iran-and-us-give-bags-of-money-to-help-its-office.html

The Odora

theodora.com/wfbcurrent/afghanistan/afghanistan_economy.html

Today’s Views

todaysviews.com/?p=781

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_production_in_Afghanistan

The U.S. “double game”

youtube.com/watch?v=ir6IEOQ_4Go