Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. in sham negotiations | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

"Disappeared with the money" raises all kinds of interesting questions.

What kind of money? Gold? Cash? Travellers' cheques? A bank transfer? Drugs? Weapons?

Presumably it wasn't one of those shiny suitcases full of notes you see in movies.

And even if it was - what was he going to spend it on, in Afghanistan? And how was he going to get it out of the country with being mugged?

It all seems rather implausible.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 09:47:16 PM EST

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 1)

Cash, presumably. US$ 1 million in 20-dollar bills weighs about fifty kilo. That's two to three big suitcases, and a car for transport.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 10:06:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

It would be interesting getting that through customs.

It probably went next to the drugs on the next military flight home.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:01:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

Cash in $100 bills is a fair presumption, considering how the US carried on in Iraq:

How the US sent $12bn in cash to Iraq. And watched it vanish | World news | The Guardian

The US flew nearly $12bn in shrink-wrapped $100 bills into Iraq, then distributed the cash with no proper control over who was receiving it and how it was being spent.
The staggering scale of the biggest transfer of cash in the history of the Federal Reserve has been graphically laid bare by a US congressional committee.

If it is not recycled within the CIA, it could be used to finance war in Afghanistan or a life of luxury in any country with low costs and corruptible customs officers.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 02:40:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

Why don't they use Euros? 500 Euro bills are much more convenient...

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 02:49:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

They can't print those. Well, they could, but...

Appearances notwithstanding, not all European spies are total idiots. Some of them would notice if you started taking that sort of €-denominated paper money out of the €-zone banking system. Plus, the American empire is based on dollar hegemony. Wouldn't want to teach the locals to expect their bribes in €. That might do Bad Things to The American Way^TM.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 05:28:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

I've no idea of the figures, but would the numbers really be significant compared with the number used in the drug trade?

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 06:33:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

No, probably not. But in the drug trade, the money comes from a lot of small sources and are laundered to a few central end-points. This would go the other way around. Probably doesn't make any difference, though. But it still doesn't make any sense for the Americans to condition the locals to expect bribes in €.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 06:55:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S (none / 0)

Well, by the time they're done divvying up the loot between the principal participants and paying all the relevant hush money, I'm not sure the gains will be that outrageous for the individuals involved. And wire transfers are your friends, if you want to get money across borders without nosey customs officers asking annoying questions about their origin.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 05:32:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. in sham negotiations | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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