March 10, 2005: Money is a weapon of war that is not often talked about. In the war on terror, money is often a more effective weapon than those that make loud noises. In Afghanistan, Iraq and throughout the world, there are many heavily armed groups that will take cash in return for information, protection or active participation in a fight. In the opening days of the 2001 war in Afghanistan, it was cash (in the form of hundred dollar bills) that made the big difference. Afghan warlords could see only a few Special Forces troopers and CIA field agents, and that didn't impress them much. Then they were offered cash, up to a few hundred thousand dollars worth (depending on how many gunmen the warlord commanded). That was an offer Afghan warlords could understand. Some of them had made cash deals with the Taliban, and a few had even allowed themselves to be bought off by the Russians during the 1980s. Bribery is not unknown in the United States, but it is far more prevalent in those parts of the world where the war on terror is being fought. Saddam Hussein would regularly bribe those he could not terrorize or destroy. Al Qaeda understands the value of cash as a weapon. When Taliban control of Afghanistan evaporated in late 2001, it was cash, more than bullets, that got many al Qaeda leaders safely out of the country. Recently, the Pakistani army, after months of fighting tribes who were sheltering al Qaeda members, found a million dollars paid to tribal chiefs got them the cooperation that firepower alone was unable to extract. The chiefs said they needed the cash to pay al Qaeda back the bribes received to provide the terrorists sanctuary. Apparently there was a bidding war, and al Qaeda lost.
In Iraq, hundreds of ammo and weapons dumps were found. But the most useful munitions discovered was over a billion dollars in Saddam's cash. Most of this was turned over to the American combat commanders, who used it to hire Iraqis for reconstruction, security and other jobs. Cash went to buy building materials, food and other items Iraqis were in need of. Many American commanders also began paying "compensation" to Iraqis who lost property, or lives, during American military operations. This was nothing new to Iraqis, even Saddam would sometimes pay compensation. Whoever paid it, got come cooperation in return.