Corrupt Afghan Officials

Dusty · 12-29-2010, 07:38

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12...iding-taliban/

KABUL—U.S. officials in Afghanistan have spent thousands of hours over the past few years charting what they call "Malign Actor Networks"—webs of connections between members of President Hamid Karzai's family, businessmen, corrupt officials, drug traffickers and Taliban commanders.

Using intelligence drawn in part from informants and a powerful wiretapping system, these officials say they have found an economic and political order—underwritten by billions of dollars in aid, reconstruction and logistics funds from the West—that is undermining the Afghan government from within and aiding a Taliban insurgency that is trying to topple it from without.

The officials and their Afghan allies have had less success, however, breaking these bonds.

The futile attempts so far at prosecuting one individual—a banker named Haji Muhammad Rafi Azimi—illustrate the depth the problem.

Mr. Azimi has bribed senior officials, moved money for drug traffickers and kept the Taliban flush with cash, say several current and former Afghan and U.S. officials who described what they say are hours of wiretaps, information provided by informers and financial documents connected with the bank where Mr. Azimi works.

In an interview, Mr. Azimi denied any wrongdoing.

**The Reaper** · 12-29-2010, 08:35

Phoenix Program.

TR

Surgicalcric · 12-29-2010, 08:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusty

...In an interview, Mr. Azimi denied any wrongdoing.

Well no shit he denied it...what was he expected to say?

The more and more I read and hear about that country the more I think its time to let it go and concentrate our efforts on other places.

Richard · 12-29-2010, 09:07

“You see why America is so strong—the Americans have no corruption!”

Corruption - it's all in the eye of the beholder.

And so it goes...

Richard

Understanding Corruption
Lawrence Rosen, The American Interest, Mar-Apr 2010

Gathered in the guest room of a Berber friend’s house in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco after the Friday prayers, Hussein turned from the assembled village men and asked me: “Is there corruption in America?”

“Yes”, I answered.

“Give us an example”, he gently inquired.

So, as the room quieted, I gave an example of a kickback arrangement. “Ah, no”, said Hussein, as the others’ heads shook in unison, “that is just buying and selling.” So I mentioned the Watergate scandal. “No, no”, Hussein replied to common assent, “that is just politics.” So I gave an example of nepotism. “No, no, no”, all voices cried out, “that is just family solidarity.” So, as I struggled to think of an example that would maintain the honor of my country for being every bit as corrupt as anyone else’s, Hussein turned to the others and said, with genuine admiration: “You see why America is so strong—the Americans have no corruption!”

A few years later I attended a meeting with workers from “buildings and grounds” to explain the anti-nepotism rules our university committee had proposed. One after another, the workers expressed concern. “What do you mean I can’t hire a fishing buddy’s kid or my nephew?” said one. “Often guys don’t show up on time or at all, but if the kid is my nephew and he doesn’t get here or pull his weight, I’ll go to my brother who will see to it the kid shapes up. If I don’t have that kind of hook in a guy, how am I ever going to be sure he will do his work?” To the bafflement of my colleagues on the university committee, none of whom had any experience with how many large city governments in the United States actually work—let alone any familiarity with Moroccans—all of the workers present heartily agreed.

English-language dictionaries define corruption as “morally degraded”, “debased in character”, or “the perversion of an original state of purity.” But you do not have to be an unrepentant relativist, or even to have experienced an undergraduate course in anthropology, to suspect that this definition begs many questions. When, for example, I asked the men in Hussein’s village, as I have so many in the Arab world, what passes for corruption in their view, I always receive the same answer: Corruption is the failure to share any largess you have received with those with whom you have formed ties of dependence. Theirs is a world in which the defining feature of a man is that he has formed a web of indebtedness, a network of obligations that prove his capacity to maneuver in a world of relentless uncertainty. It is a world in which the separation of impersonal institutions from personal attachments is very scarce. Failure to service such attachments is thus regarded as not only stupid but corrupt.

(cont'd) http://www.the-american-interest.com....cfm?piece=792

Jgood · 12-29-2010, 21:11

Thanks for the link very intresting take on culture and corruption

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

Understanding Corruption
Lawrence Rosen, The American Interest, Mar-Apr 2010

http://www.the-american-interest.com....cfm?piece=792

**Team Sergeant** · 12-30-2010, 01:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Phoenix Program.

TR

I like the way you think......

Blueboy · 12-31-2010, 05:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Phoenix Program.

TR

Hear, hear!

MtnGoat · 12-31-2010, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Phoenix Program.

TR

Some kind of "pacification" efforts would be nice...

Can we start with the top??

Ihave always looked at corruption this way.. Our guys are just better at covering it up. Over whereever.. they just don't care what people think... they take the NIKE slogan JUST DO IT.

greenberetTFS · 12-31-2010, 16:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Phoenix Program.

TR

I concur............

Big Teddy

Green Light · 12-31-2010, 22:39

Corruption in a third world country????

That round thing they just invented again . . . don't these people ever read books? It's not like it doesn't happen every stinking time. Deal with it, then move on. They don't become choir boys just because we're there.

Phoenix . . .