$25m? what's that?

[Doug Henwood]

[via Sam Smith's Progressive Review]

CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA, TIMES OF INDIA - The popular American theory that
money talks, or at least it makes people talk, is in dire threat of being
disproved in Afghanistan. The $25 million bounty Uncle Sam has offered for
information leading to the capture of Osama Bin Laden hasn't worked,
because, US officials are now saying, the Afghans can't comprehend just how
large the sum is. The result: Uncle Sam is now "downsizing" the reward. The
US will now offer to build a road, dig a well, or give away a flock of sheep
to Afghan communities that rat on Bin Laden. The change in the "booty
treatment" comes after American officials in the region found that poor
Afghan peasants were clueless about Big Money. A general reportedly asked an
Afghan what he could do with $25 million if he helped the United States find
Osama Bin Laden. The local replied that the money might be enough to feed
his nine children for a year. So the Bush administration has now considered
a $5 million discretionary fund to pay for basic inducements such as cash,
livestock or help drilling a well. The hope is that average Afghans, many of
whom are poor and illiterate, can relate to owning a flock of sheep more
than becoming a millionaire.