Report: Foreign Donations Are Single Largest Source of Taliban’s Funding

Fox News ^ | Sep 27 | Not given

[chuck_the_tv_out]

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led insurgency is so heavily funded by foreign donations that U.S. and Afghan officials say it may be impossible to obstruct the group’s money supply, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

The Obama administration said the group’s single largest source of funding comes from foreign donations -- not drugs like opium -- according to the newspaper.

The CIA reportedly estimates that the Taliban received $106 billion in foreign money last year alone -- making it difficult for intelligence officials to track the terrorist group’s money flow.

United Nations’ Taliban and Al Qaeda Monitoring Team Coordinator Richard Barrett, told the Washington Post that Taliban supporters have grown much more skillful at masking their donations.

U.S. officials say they suspect that the Pakistani military and intelligence operatives continue to fund the insurgency -- not the Saudi and other Gulf governments, which gave the group substantial financial support in the 1990s -- the newspaper reported.

U.S. and Afghan officials said the diversified funds have allowed the Taliban to expand with relative ease, the Post reported.

David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, told the Post, “We’re going after this with a great deal of urgency and a huge amount of effort to even more effectively disrupt the networks that fund the Taliban.”

[counterpunch]

[Uncle Hal]

$106 billion!! That is a lot of money for a bunch of nomads that live in caves. You would there would some way to stop it.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

WaPo just took the lead part in the set-up to bail from Afghanistan, that much is clear, anyway!

[Blood of Tyrants]

Look for donations to go up now that we have a coward in chief who gets all squeamish about the term “victory in Afghanistan”.

[GeronL]

Code Pink?

[Poincare]

It was a big mistake for the Yanks and Brits to get involved with trying to stem the poppy production. The Afghans loved the US, Thank You Reagan!, and they expected us to respect their freedom to engage in whatever business they wanted. We suffered a set-back because of OUR drug policy.

[WellyP]

BOMB IRAN and ask questions later!

[C210N]

Foreign Donations Are Single Largest Source of Taliban’s Funding

Something in common w/ -10bama and his campaign last fall.

[dalebert]

exactly

[SERKIT]

Report: Foreign Donations Are Single Largest Source of Taliban’s Funding Barry's Un-Audited Campaign Fund

Fixed.

[ncfool]

Probably from George Soro’s and Moveon.org

[rmh47]

$106 billion is a lot of money, and that's just what's going to the Taliban. Much of it comes fromm you, me, and a lot of other Freepers plus other American citizens via Saudi Arabia.

Right now, we are paying for both sides of the War on Terror. That war will never stop until we find a way to stop bankrolling the other side.

[wally_bert]

A Cobrathon?

[element92]

the electric car,
is our only hope

[LucyT]

TM Ping.

[PapaBear3625]

It's an old saying that, regarding war, amateurs study tactics, and professionals study logistics.

In terrorism, replace "logistics" with "finance". As long as terrorism is heavily funded, it will be impossible to eradicate. Yes, terrorists get killed, but then so do drug dealers and there is a never-ending supply of replacement drug dealers nonetheless.

The real target needs to be the financial sources. Exterminate them, and the terrorist organizations will wither away.

[PapaBear3625]

The CIA reportedly estimates that the Taliban received $106 billion in foreign money last year alone

Wait a minute! This can't be right.

This would have the Taliban having a larger budget than the US Army. The entire defense budget of Great Britain is just around $60B. The entire defense budget of Pakistan is just $12B.

I think somebody said "billion" when he meant "million", or reported a figure in Pakistani Rupees (70 to the dollar) as dollars.

[PapaBear3625]

Boston Globe reports the amount as $106 MILLION, not billion, which is a more likely number.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

Good catch. Certainly a less scary number.