CIA Cash Used for Al Qaeda Ransom

Cash deliveries made by the CIA to the presidential palace in Kabul were used by Afghan officials to free an Afghan diplomat held hostage by al Qaeda. In a note to Osama bin Laden in June 2010, al Qaeda’s general manager Atiyah bd al-Rahman wrote that after the $5 million in cash came in “God blessed us with a good amount of money this month.” He also said it would be used for weapons and operations. While bin Laden was fearful of the money being tracked, it appears it was just another example, writes the New York Times, “ in a long list of examples of how the United States, largely because of poor oversight and loose financial controls.”