Afghan Ambassador Begs For Money To "Buy Influence" In United States

Afghan ambassador begs for money to 'buy influence' in United States

http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/06/afg...buy-influence/

6/9/2009

A leaked memorandum published Tuesday (PDF) shows the Afghan ambassador to the United States begging his country for more lobbyists to affect US public policy in Washington.

Perhaps as shocking as the leaked memo is the article's revelation that Pakistan employs nine lobbying firms in Washington to ensure a steady stream of foreign aid. According to the report, Pakistan spends more than $3 million a year to influence politicos in Washington.

The memo was acquired by Mother Jones' Bruce Falconer.

In an Apr. 21 memo to Afghanistan's finance minister, Omar Zakhiwal, which is dated April 21 and marked "confidential," Afghan ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad surveys the competition. Pakistan, he writes, employs nine American lobbying firms, including two "that alone represent and promote President Asif Ali Zardari's interests in Washington." According to the ambassador's missive, these include Locke Lord Strategies-LP, which since May 2008 has been on retainer from the Pakistan government for more than $100,000 per month, and JWT Asiatic and Hill & Knowlton, which together collect a monthly payment exceeding $100,000.

All told, according to Jawad's estimate, Islamabad spent at least $3 million on Washington lobbyists in 2008 alone... Jawad suggests that Kabul needs "to give serious consideration to allocating financial resources an on annual basis so that—like Pakistan and India and so many other countries—we are also able to effect pro-Afghanistan policy and legislation in Washington."

In the memo, the ambassador writes:

"Afghanistan and the United States are facing many threats that must be addressed based on the US-Afghan Strategic Partnership. The Obama Administration is as much committed to the stabilization of Afghanistan as it deems US domestic issues including a receding economy as its major priorities. This mixed picture provides Afghanistan with many opportunities on the short term, particularly in capitalizing on the still goodwill of the American people and the bi-partisan support for Afghanistan. To translate the existing US support into effective packages of assistance to Afghanistan, we need to give serious consideration to allocating financial resources on an annual basis so that—like Pakistan and India and so many other countries—we are also able to effect pro-Afghanistan policy and legislation in Washington."

Mother Jones reached out to the Afghan ambassador:

After I obtained a copy of the memo, I met with Jawad at the embassy, a redbrick mansion in Washington's posh Kalorama neighborhood. The ambassador, in a neatly pressed blue suit and yellow-striped shirt, welcomed me into his second-floor office, where we sat around a small table and drank Afghan mint tea. Had his plea for more resources had any effect, I asked? No, he said, adding that Kabul "doesn't know exactly how Washington operates…They ask, 'Is this legal, to buy influence?' Yes, everybody's doing it!" Jawad told me that he doesn't even have enough money to properly entertain embassy guests. "People like you," he said. "If you are interested, I can give you a book on Afghanistan, but nothing else."

Pakistan's lobbying presence could explain why they're a major recipient of US foreign aid intended to stem the growth of terrorist groups and the Taliban along the Afghan border, despite frequent claims that Pakistan hasn't spent the money wisely.