Ethics

Bribing Warlords with Viagra

By Ed Brayton

The CIA is pulling out all the stops to get Afghan warlords on our side in the fight against the Taliban, including giving them viagra.

Paying for information is nothing new for the Central Intelligence Agency, but officers have started employing unusual incentives to persuade Afghan local leaders to share intelligence about the Taliban's movements, the Post wrote, citing unnamed sources in the spy service.

"Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people -- whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra," one CIA operative who has worked in Afghanistan was quoted as saying.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on December 28, 2008 (boomark / email).