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Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
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| Admiral Mike Mullen, Richard Holbrooke, FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi |
ISLAMABAD: The United States has said that Afghan drug trade was not a major source of funding for militancy and extremism in Pakistan. The financing came from extremists’ patrons in Gulf countries — an aspect now being scrutinised, the statement added.
‘Private individuals who support extremists bring money in through illegal means … hawala system and the area focussed is the Gulf Cooperation Council countries,’ US Special Envoy…Richard Holbrooke told a media briefing at the American Embassy.
Mr Holbrooke…said it was ‘a very big issue’ and ‘the most troubling aspect of the entire situation.’
The US, he said, had started looking into the source of financing for the extremists and would be devoting more time to investigate it. He admitted that not much work was done in the past to explore this aspect.
However, he said the much-touted drug trade was not the main financing source for extremism. ‘Even if the drug trade stops it won’t have any significant impact.’
Holbrooke is being careful, precise enough in his choice of words to confine his statement to “private individuals” being responsible for the flow of gold to the insurgency. Though, I doubt that any significant traffic through the wahala banking system goes unscrutinized by Saudi royals or UAE sheikhs..
>> Hugh Ripper said,
>> To all the pointy heads who think Obama’s funding terrorists, you may be right. Just like every president before him.
Probably you are right but I doubt that it’s all equal.
We know that Reagan financed and armed the Mujahideen (who became the Taliban and Al Qaeda) but I doubt that Clinton did that, since the Russian had left by the time he took office.
We know that Reagan secretly sold arms to our sworn-enemy the Iranians. I’ve never heard that Carter or Clinton did that.
So which terrorists do you think Carter or Clinton financed and armed?
As for Obama — if it’s happening now, it’s still a legacy of Bush. But time will tell.
It’s a serious question — I don’t doubt that a Democratic president might do this. But I don’t buy into this “they are all the same” argument people give.
Did Carter or Clinton REALLY do something as stupid as illegally send weapons to the very same people who were having “death to America” rallies every day?
#41 Carter? Might not have given monetary support, but has politically supported a buttload of world trash. fidel castro, half the lefty-leaning african dictators, hugo chavez…
Not only that, but helped them get away with rigged election…what the hell you think that stupid Carter Center front is for?
#41 If they did indeed fund terrorists (or freedom fighters – depends on which side of the fence you are on), they sure as hell wont tell us.