Slush fund in 'gan Albert fire?
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Slush fund in 'gan Albert fire?
A crash involving a Lyneham-based Hercules in Afghanistan in May has taken a bizarre twist.
It has emerged that a secret slush fund of more than £1million being 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.
But as the aircraft approached the runway in volatile Helmand province, one
engine erupted in flames and the blaze spread quickly.
The pilot managed 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 extinguish the inferno, and the Hercules was
destroyed - along with the vehicles and cash.
The aircraft from No 47 Squadron, based at RAF Lyneham, had flown in secrecy
from Kabul, in what is termed a 'black operation', to the crude dirt landing
strip outside the town of Lashkar Gar.
Most of the cash had been packed into plastic bags in the back of the SAS
vehicles and the remainder was on a pallet strapped to the inside of the
aircraft's rear ramp.
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 narcotics business have a lot of influence -
and we needed to have that influence on our side."
Senior sources say the cash destroyed in the blaze in May was written off by
the Foreign Office and replaced a month later by about £500,000 drawn from
Government emergency cash reserves.
While there is no official record or audit trail to show how the cash was
used, senior sources claim the money helped to 'turn' pro-Taliban warlords
to support the UK.
A senior intelligence officer said: "Where we had to fight we did, and thank
God we had the Paras in Helmand. But where we could we used cash to buy
support."
The Ministry of Defence last night confirmed that a 'sizeable amount of
cash' was being transported by the plane which caught fire.
It has emerged that a secret slush fund of more than £1million being 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.
But as the aircraft approached the runway in volatile Helmand province, one
engine erupted in flames and the blaze spread quickly.
The pilot managed 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 extinguish the inferno, and the Hercules was
destroyed - along with the vehicles and cash.
The aircraft from No 47 Squadron, based at RAF Lyneham, had flown in secrecy
from Kabul, in what is termed a 'black operation', to the crude dirt landing
strip outside the town of Lashkar Gar.
Most of the cash had been packed into plastic bags in the back of the SAS
vehicles and the remainder was on a pallet strapped to the inside of the
aircraft's rear ramp.
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 narcotics business have a lot of influence -
and we needed to have that influence on our side."
Senior sources say the cash destroyed in the blaze in May was written off by
the Foreign Office and replaced a month later by about £500,000 drawn from
Government emergency cash reserves.
While there is no official record or audit trail to show how the cash was
used, senior sources claim the money helped to 'turn' pro-Taliban warlords
to support the UK.
A senior intelligence officer said: "Where we had to fight we did, and thank
God we had the Paras in Helmand. But where we could we used cash to buy
support."
The Ministry of Defence last night confirmed that a 'sizeable amount of
cash' was being transported by the plane which caught fire.
Though photos of 206 seemed to show the port inner feathered, I thought that there was some explanation of this consistent with the aircraft having run over a mine on the strip?
Are we now saying engine fire?
And what difference might ESF have made......
Are we now saying engine fire?
And what difference might ESF have made......
I wasn't really. I just dimly recalled reading something about the various explanations and couldn't remember which one had been most widely accepted as 'most likely'.
It makes little odds, and both explanations are pretty blame free
It makes little odds, and both explanations are pretty blame free
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Money destroyed in Fire???
Yeah, nice one! C'mon where did you hide it? Is it funding the new scruff's bar back at Lyneham or what
?
I sense a 'Kelly's Heroes' plot here.......
Yeah, nice one! C'mon where did you hide it? Is it funding the new scruff's bar back at Lyneham or what
?I sense a 'Kelly's Heroes' plot here.......
I hate these conspiracy theories.
I'm looking forward to the 47 Squadron Christmas bash, and think that Nassau is a superb choice of location, while the promise of the goody bag chock full of iPods and digital cameras is not all that different to the bag of scratchings in Wooty B's worst pub that the squadron usually stretch to.....
I'm looking forward to the 47 Squadron Christmas bash, and think that Nassau is a superb choice of location, while the promise of the goody bag chock full of iPods and digital cameras is not all that different to the bag of scratchings in Wooty B's worst pub that the squadron usually stretch to.....
Cash is just bits of paper. If the article is to be believed then the cash was all in brand new notes and - stick with me here - it was probably consecutively numbered (seems reasonable if it was freshly minted).
Since it's more than likely that someone somewhere has a record of the serial numbers involved can the UK govt not approach the US govt to simply reprint the banknotes?
Since it's more than likely that someone somewhere has a record of the serial numbers involved can the UK govt not approach the US govt to simply reprint the banknotes?
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Can one procure Pies/Mince using Dollars/American?
Oh, and by the way, Nige, you may have noticed that said Curry House has been transmogrified in an easy-clean wipe-down format!
I wonder why ???
On the other hand, the alleged dosh could be used during the coming season of goodwill to buy hampers as redundancy compensation for those who smell of of lavender and bottom-bunk!
Oh, and JackoNicko you say " I just dimly recalled reading something .." - BULL**** - methinks you were fishing.
Oh, and by the way, Nige, you may have noticed that said Curry House has been transmogrified in an easy-clean wipe-down format!
I wonder why ???
On the other hand, the alleged dosh could be used during the coming season of goodwill to buy hampers as redundancy compensation for those who smell of of lavender and bottom-bunk!
Oh, and JackoNicko you say " I just dimly recalled reading something .." - BULL**** - methinks you were fishing.
Last edited by TOPBUNKER; 24th Oct 2006 at 01:03.
With 26 posts under your belt, I'm not surprised that you'd think that.
But were I fishing, I'd just ask.
As for where I dimly recalled reading it, Google helped, and then the PMs.....
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...=227467&page=6
Where most of the experts seemed to be discounting an inflight fire, and where the explosion on the ground seemed to indicate an RPG or a landmine.
But were I fishing, I'd just ask.
As for where I dimly recalled reading it, Google helped, and then the PMs.....
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...=227467&page=6
Where most of the experts seemed to be discounting an inflight fire, and where the explosion on the ground seemed to indicate an RPG or a landmine.
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Won't they need a receipt for that? Oh, and 3 weeks to get access, fill in the details and 6 months for it to come through!!. Maybe we could get the Navy to see if the system works better for them now that they're ( pardon the pun ) on board!
Won't they need a receipt for that? Oh, and 3 weeks to get access, fill in the details and 6 months for it to come through!!. Maybe we could get the Navy to see if the system works better for them now that they're ( pardon the pun ) on board!
I wonder if they will ever fill in the blanks...
