(insert primal scream here)
"Corruption in Afghanistan tough to combat; Karzai under global pressure for reform" by Robert H. Reid and Kathy Gannon, Associated Press | November 4, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan - Reform is a tall order in a country awash in drug money.
Related: Afghans Need Taliban Return
Yeah, thanks, "liberation."
Afghans pay bribes for everything from driver’s licenses to police protection, and the elite all too often treat state property as their own.
Our bribes are called TAXES, and the ELITE are the SAME in BOTH NATIONS!!!!
“Right now 85 percent of the government is corrupt,’’ said Ahmed Shah Lumar, a businessman in the southern city of Kandahar. He said bribery, extortion, and other corrupt practices extend “from the very small person’’ in government to the very top.
How MUCH WE ARE ALIKE, 'eh, Afghans and Americans??
International pressure is mounting on Karzai to make clean government a top priority as he begins his second term after an election marred by fraud.
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!
Thanks, MSM, I needed a laugh!
President Obama wants concrete steps, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said yesterday....
President Hamid Karzai said corruption could not be erased simply by replacing certain officials....
No, the "change" elections of 2006 and 2008 proved that!
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Karzai's Kin
Well, maybe he should be replaced, huh?
The president also promised to strengthen a government commission established a year ago to fight corruption....
Pffft!
Even with a good-faith effort, corruption is so deeply entrenched in Afghan society that it could take decades to clean up. A March report by the US Agency for International Development found that corruption had reached “an unprecedented scope in the country’s history.’’
We are SO MUCH ALIKE!!
Corruption is not limited to the rich and powerful. It is woven into the very fabric of everyday Afghan life.
Having a GOOD TIME BASHING MUSLIMS, *ewspaper?!!!!
Villagers in the southern province of Helmand say police routinely stop them on the highways and demand money just to pass.
We call it a TOLL BOOTH!!!!
In the capital, Kabul, government employees shake down people applying for driver’s licenses, passports, or building permits....
We call it a USER FEE here!
Several years ago, US military officials began hearing complaints that lower-ranking police officers and soldiers never received their full salary. As the money was transferred down the chain of command, officers and sergeants would siphon off a portion for themselves.
We call that GOVERNMENT or CONGRESS over here!!!
Soldiers and police make up for the shortfall by stealing food from merchants or shaking down motorists. US Embassy and military officials say the country’s drug trade flourishes in part because police take bribes to turn a blind eye to trafficking.
Related: U.S. Government Brings Drug War to U.S. Cities
Need I even type it?
US officials have since tried to institute an electronic payment system to prevent commanders from taking cuts from paychecks, but some soldiers still complain they come up short....
Gee, I'm glad I live in America where we are never looted by banksters or war-profiteers, 'eh, Amurka?!!!
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