Banksters, Cronyism and Corruption

Not here, but in Afghanistan, where the Kabul Bank is about to collapse.

Afghan and American officials say the [chairman and the chief executive] presided over the bank in a reckless and freewheeling manner, doling out millions to allies of President Hamid Karzai and pouring money into risky investments that crashed.

The chairman of the bank, if you read the story carefully, thinks that we should rescue him and his bank from his folly. But since there is serious corruption and favoritism at play, care to guess who is also involved?

Kabul Bank, which counts a brother of President Karzai among its politically connected shareholders[1], illustrates the intertwining of political and economic interests in Afghanistan. Afghan and American regulators said the bank’s political connections had shielded it from scrutiny until now.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! One of President Karzai's brothers is involved. Like that's big news.

But wait, there's more!

Earlier in the day, Mahmoud Karzai voiced concern over Kabul Bank's ability to withstand an onslaught of depositors demanding their money back. "America should do something," he said in a telephone interview. He suggested that the Treasury Department guarantee the funds of Kabul Bank's clients, who number about 1 million and have more than $1 billion on deposit with the bank.

My reaction runs from "Hell, no" to "fuck, no." Maybe all of the corrupt thugs who got money from the Kabul Bank should give it back. It's bad enough that we got stuck with the bill for rescuing our own financial criminals, like the Giant Vampire Squid, and now some arguably corrupt foreign turdlet wants us to fix his folly for him?

No way.

[1]This was the guy who eight years ago was running some restaurants in the U.S. and now he is one of the big machers in Afghanistan. Draw your own conclusions.