Afghan insiders get billions from outsiders as ...
Iran to pay first national dividend anywhere ever
| Can outsiders bribe insiders in order to implement policy? Could the trillions for war purchase peace? Could sharing a commonwealth heal a divided land? We trim, blend, and append three 2010 articles from: (1) the Washington Post, August 27, on the CIA by Greg Miller and Joshua Partlow; (2) “The ‘Basic Income’ Road to Reforming Iran’s Subsidy System” by Hamid Tabatabai (hamtab at gmail.com), paper presented at the 13th International Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), June 30 - July 2; and (3) CoExist, Aug 20, on Israel by Pippa Bartolotti. |
by G. Miller & J. Partlow, by H. Tabatabai, and by P. Bartolotti
- CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration
The CIA is making secret payments to multiple members of President Hamid Karzai's administration to maintain sources of information, said a US official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The payments are long-standing in many cases. Some aides function as CIA informants, but others collect stipends under more informal arrangements.
The disclosure comes as Karzai intervenes in the case against security adviser Mohammad Zia Salehi, accused of accepting a $10,000 car as a bribe in exchange for his assistance in quashing a wide-ranging corruption probe.
US officials did not dispute that Salehi was on the CIA payroll, but sought to draw a distinction between agency payments and corruption probes.
Concerns that the Afghan government is hopelessly corrupt have prompted a congressional panel to withhold billions of dollars in aid, and threaten to erode American support for the war.
Even as CIA dollars flow in, prominent Afghans in the government send more than $1 billion in cash annually from the country.
The CIA is not the only foreign entity paying Afghan officials. Also doing it are the governments of Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
The flow of CIA money into the region dates to the agency's support for Mujaheddin fighters who ousted Soviet forces three decades ago.
The spigot was tightened during the 1990s but reopened after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Much of the money went to support warlords whose militias helped to overthrow the Taliban regime, which had provided sanctuary for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda training camps.
JJS: If all the money that foreigners poured into Afghanistan went instead to the Afghanis, they’d no longer constitute one of the poorest nations on the planet. If the funds were to keep coming in, it’d be just like getting a national dividend, something happening west of their border.
- Iran passes world’s first national dividend
Iran is on the verge of becoming the first country to pay a “basic income” (enough money to live on).
Iran is trying to get rid of its fuel subsidies that cost about $30 billion annually. The Iranian government makes about $70 billion per year from the oil exports, but loses $100 billion dollars per year (30% of its GDP) by directing its state-owned enterprises to sell various products, mostly gasoline, far below their international price.
Many Iranians have grown dependent on cheap fuel and other commodities. The government cannot get rid of the subsidies without providing something else for the people to cushion the blow.
According to the new law, the government will increase revenue, use half the funds for government services, and distribute the other half to all who apply. More than 90% of Iranians have already applied. Nearly 70 million people will be eligible.
When fully phased in, the amount could be $60 per person per month ($720 per year) or more. This figure is still well below the poverty line, but Iran has a per capita income of $3,500 per year. Considering the cost of living, $720 is significant.
The phase-in is scheduled to begin sometime between September 2010 and March 2011. There is no clear word on how long the phase-in will take. The Iranian political system is chaotic, and there could yet be substantial changes.
JJS: Just as a national dividend will keep the peace between citizens and their government, so could a bi-national dividend in a confederacy of two ethnic groups promote peace between them, as in nearby Palestine/Israel.
- History vs. myth about Palestine
Soon after its creation, the United Nations recommended that Palestine be divided into an Arab state and a Jewish state with open borders and economic union, with Jerusalem to be put under international administration.
The Jews accepted the UN decision, but the Arabs rejected it. Clashes between them began almost as soon as the UN passed the partition resolution. Arabs began leaving their towns and villages to escape the fighting.
On May 14, 1948, the Jews proclaimed the independent State of Israel, and the British withdrew from Palestine. Hostilities increased. Both sides received weapons from their allies.
In January 2006, when Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization with a socio-political wing (not unlike the IRA) won a majority in the Palestinian Parliament, Israel refused to deal with them.
Israel began to blockade Gaza in 2007, preventing Gaza from exporting any goods and restricting imports to a limited amount of basic humanitarian aid. The Palestinians -- the original inhabitants of this land -- are kept only slightly above malnutrition level. This is seen by the UN as a war crime.
The generational impasse of the Palestinian ‘problem’ represents a dismal, pathetic failure of men and women on every side to agree on just about anything at all. None of them are right. It is only by recognizing every political entity as a part of the negotiation process that progressive opportunities can be explored.
JJS: Where would the funds for a dividend paid to both Palestinians and Israelis come from? Mainly from land, which in cities is very valuable. There’s also broadcast licenses and utility franchises. Eventually there’d also be the peace dividend. That is, once geonomics takes root.
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Editor Jeffery J. Smith runs the Forum on Geonomics.
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Also see: US outspends everyone on arms, funding enemies, too
Reporters Without Borders surveys the nations
What are they battling about? |
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