To the Point
How Covert CIA Cash Flowed to al Qaeda
In the past 10 years, the US has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan — some in the form of bags full of American money. Sometimes, that cash has been used — inadvertently -- to finance the very militants the US has been fighting. In 2010, CIA drone strikes were decimating al Qaeda's high-level structure in Pakistan.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readIn the past 10 years, the US has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan — some in the form of bags full of American money. Sometimes, that cash has been used — inadvertently -- to finance the very militants the US has been fighting. In 2010, CIA drone strikes were decimating al Qaeda's high-level structure in Pakistan. At the same time, Osama bin Laden received $5 million to replenish his coffers — including one million from a surprising source, the CIA. That's according to documents and interviews reported by Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times.
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