Bribe money up in smoke

"It doesn't matter where you go in the world, people respond to cash." In case thought the heady days of 2001 were over... 

How £1m bribe cash for Afghan warlords went up smoke October 23, 2006 (ThisIsLondon) By Joanne Moore: A secret slush fund of more than £1million sent to Afghanistan to bribe local warlords was destroyed when the Special Forces aircraft carrying it burst into flames as it came in to land.

The cash -- all in brand new American notes -- was packed into two four-wheel-drive vehicles being carried on the RAF Hercules C-130 plane. The money was intended to 'buy off' local warlords and turn them against the Taliban…

The pilot ma

na

ged to touch down and all those on board - including the new British ambassador in Afghanistan, Stephen Evans, and a group of SAS troops - fled to safety with just seconds to spare. But it was too late to e

x

tinguish the inferno, and the Hercules was destroyed - along with the vehicles and cash…

Officially, the money was to support 'development projects' in

Helmand

. But a military source said: "We knew little about

Helmand

and needed to gather intelligence fast. "It doesn't matter where you go in the world, people respond to cash. In

Helmand

, warlords who run the

na

rcotics business have a lot of influence - and we needed to have that influence on our side."