Latif Nasser

I'm the legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And he told me that around 2006, paying out these kinds of condolence payments actually became sort of a key part of military strategy.

Absolutely.

Even had its own acronym.

MAWS.

M-A-A-W-S.

It's Money as a Weapons System, which, you know...

I'm not sure that title resonates with everybody.

Interesting phrase for sure.

Yeah, exactly.

But it's the idea that money can be used to win hearts and minds that help bring the population over.

And it just got me wondering how much money makes a good weapon.

But through FOIAs and interviews, I've seen different numbers.

Marla says that in 2006, the ACLU filed a FOIA request and eventually got their hands on hundreds of claims files.

And in those files, what you see are a bunch of different numbers, but one that comes up again and again.

$2,500.

$2,500 by and large.

Now, someone like John could have paid more, but that meant they'd have to run the claim up the chain of command.

Exactly.

So it was almost like there were these ceilings.