As the main bank in Kabul fails, and financial panic stirs new political chaos across Afghanistan, the irrefragable Juan Cole pulls back the curtain on the deep and dreadful corruption and moral vacancy rampant in that tortured land.
And we comfortable millions in the U.S. are left wondering - we need to be demanding - what will our government and military do next over there? Our president has chosen a policy. He has a freshly installed general in charge.
But things in Afghanistan just seem to keep getting worse.
Cole states: “The crisis raises the severest questions about whether the Obama administration can plausibly hope to stand up a stable government in Afghanistan before US troops depart.”
Meet Sherkhan Farnood, a combination of Bernie Madoff and the Koch brothers. He founded Da Kabul Bank and helps bankroll the cronies of President Karzai. As Cole points out, Afghanistan is the fifth-poorest country in the world. How is its main banker addressing this challenge?
Farnood also apparently loaned himself $140 million to invest in real estate in Dubai, including in villas on the world islands off Jumeirah. These artificial islands made of landfill were to resemble the map of the globe once constructed, and were intended to give the wealthy the opportunity to own an entire faux country. Farnood has been flying out connected people like Mahmoud Karzai and Haseen Fahim and putting them up in the fancy chalets.
Why are we fighting in the dirt and rocks of Afghanistan? Who are we fighting for?
There are reports in the Washington Post and New York Times about this Afghan bank-and-government crisis. Of course it is also our crisis. We have poured money and blood in - what are we getting for it?
If we want to help the people of Afghanistan, when are we going to put the kleptocrats in jail?
How do we gain a more secure America by kicking up dust, propping up the opium industry, and bribing murderous thieves?
How much is another day in combat worth?