Bank Run in Afghanistan! (Here Comes Another Bailout)

Corruption, greed, luxury villas in Dubai.  And guess who's paying for it.

A few updates now included.

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UPDATE:  Treasury says there won't be a bailout.  Yet, Treasury sent a team of "advisers" to Kabul to help out.  Yeah, right.  We'll keep you posted, but this sounds like damage control.  You know they were itching to do a bailout.

• Story from Alternet

UPDATE II:  Apparently the Afghan Central Bank will help out.

• Story from the AP 

UPDATE III:  Kabul Bank has "stabilized," but the bailout of the bank will not involve US taxpayer funds.  Translation:  Kabul Bank is screwed and the fact that US taxpayers will fund the bailout will be obscured as best we can and for as long as possible.

• From HuffPo

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By Dr. Pitchfork

It's September 2010, and the entire financial system is on the verge of collapse!  If we don't do something, there could be a revolution...tanks in the streets!...financial armageddon!

Except this time, it's not Citi and Bank of America we're talking about -- we're talking about Kabul Bank and the financial system in Afghanistan.  Of course, Kabul already has tanks in the streets, but if B of K doesn't get a massive (U.S.) taxpayer-funded bailout...  Well, you know the routine, already.  Crooked insiders need their bailout.  If they don't get it, the world will end, the sky will melt, lions will frolic with lambs, etc., etc.  And when (not if) they get their bailout, you get the bill.

Naturally, this one's got all the usual parts to the story -- abysmal risk management, sweetheart loans to bank insiders, political corruption, leveraged speculation in Dubai real estate (really?), assurances from government officials that the bank is sound...  Yeah, this is going to end well.  Below is a collection of links on Kabul Bank and the coming bailout.

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• Depositors Panic Over Bank Crisis in Afghanistan (NY Times)

• Troubles at Afghan Bank Jolt Financial System (NY Times)

• Large investor confirms funds were used to buy Dubai villas (MSNBC)

• Karzai urges Afghans not to panic as bank withdrawals accelerate (Wash. Post)

• Officials say the bank is safe despite reports of massive losses (LA Times)

• The only advice Treasury knows how to give starts with "write a blank check" and ends with "don't worry, it'll come out of the taxpayer's ass later." (Jr. Deputy Accountant)

• Come Home America (Anti-War.com) 

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Get your bailout ice cream...

Depositors Panic Over Bank Crisis in Afghanistan

Update on Sep 6, 2010 at 2:31 PM by DailyBail

Updated above with new links and reaction.

Comments

[DailyBail]

Nice job Pitchfork...this is an unbelievable story...corruption rules afghanistan...still getting through all the links...

[DailyBail]

WASHINGTON – The security company Blackwater Worldwide formed a network of 30 shell companies and subsidiaries to try to get millions of dollars in government business after the company faced strong criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, The New York Times reported Friday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100904/ap_on_bi_ge/us_blackwater

Blackwater bastards...

[DailyBail]

Muslim cleric calls for beheading of Dutch politician

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100903/wl_nm/us_dutch_wilders

[S. Gompers]

Corruption rules everywhere America touches, follow any of the money trail into,Iraq and then out of Iraq?

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/05/iraq-throwing-good-money-after-bad.html

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=156441

There is much more, remember trucks stopped at the border leaving the country laden down with FRN's?

[Dr. Pitchfork]

Thanks, Gomp. That story might be worth revisiting. So many BILLIONS lost, wasted and stolen in Iraq (while kids -- ours and theirs -- were dying unnecessarily).

[S. Gompers]

Perhaps some of that missing taxpayer aid is making it back to here, gang members being arrested in America with Farsi tattoos should strike up some interest, kinda like guys trying to learn to fly and asking if the lessons are cheaper if you don't learn to land. Oops, we fell for that one to didn't we.

Everyone always takes the money to ignore the obvious.


http://justinwrites.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/hezbollah-is-strengthening-its-long-standing-influence-over-central-and-south-american-drug-cartels/

http://www.americanpartyoftexas.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:whos-coming-across-the-border&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

[Bubba666]

I think Zhou Xiaochuan was one of Kabul Banks money managers.
No wonder they are in trouble.

[DailyBail]

Zhou told them to invest in Dubai real estate...

[DailyBail]

Here come a few updates on the bank of kabul...

Kabul Bank withdrawals continue despite reassurances

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11190366

[DailyBail]

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a bid to fend off the threat of a nationwide financial crisis, the Afghan government scrambled to shore up Afghanistan’s largest bank on Saturday after lines of frantic depositors mobbed the bank for a third day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/world/asia/05kabul.html

[DailyBail]

The lies and obfuscation are hilarious from the white house...of course u.s. taxpayers will be bailing out the bank of kabul...as you know, the billions in war funding are fungible and they will be ultimately directed to save the bank...obama continues to think we're too dumb to figure it out...

[S. Gompers]

Everyone always takes the money to ignore the obvious.