Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.
The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.
The relationship between Mr. Karzai and the C.I.A. is wide ranging, several American officials said. He helps the C.I.A. operate a paramilitary group, the Kandahar Strike Force, that is used for raids against suspected insurgents and terrorists. On at least one occasion, the strike force has been accused of mounting an unauthorized operation against an official of the Afghan government, the officials said.
Mr. Karzai is also paid for allowing the C.I.A. and American Special Operations troops to rent a large compound outside the city — the former home of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban’s founder. The same compound is also the base of the Kandahar Strike Force. “He’s our landlord,” a senior American official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
This is simply a continuation of Bush’s interventionist foreign policies. In other words at least Barack Hussein Obama is doing something to keep us safe from terrorists.
That’s because you have only two choices in Afghanistan. 1) A failed narco state that is primarily interested in pushing opium to European, Russian, and Iranian addicts or 2) A failed theocracy that is primarily interested in religious repression, destroying the West, destroying modernity, and destroying globalization.
For some reason journalists and elite academia expect US involvement to mean you go from a failed state to something like Carmel California with mud spas, wine tasting, and museums. Hopefully one day adults will re-inhabit academia.
ahhh. Seems were learning from the British.
yeah, what he said. (#2)
# 2 & 4
Ridiculous logical fallacy (false dichotomy).
I think that if you enthrone drug dealers and their families into positions of power in the country, you either need or want that country to become a narco-state, or you are an idiot.
Rummy and Cheney were not idiots. They were just jonesing for a lost income stream.
We need to get out of Afghanistan — totally out.
We need to get out of Iraq…
and Kuwait…
and UAE…
and Bahrain…
and central Asia…
and the WHOLE REGION!
Take the money we spend fighting, propping up regimes, and maintaining a presence in those countries and develop domestic, renewable fuels.
It’s what those people over there people want. It’s what’s best for America. It would be good for OUR economy — for once! And it would help global warming, too, if done right.
It’s a win, win, win, win.
WE couldnt/wouldnt do that..NO WAY..
What would happen?
They would fight with each other..
Those with better weapons COULD WIN.
We wouldnt have any control over those nations, we wouldnt be able to Control the elections.
We wouldnt be able to make them into SLAVES of an economy that WE CONTROL with the WTO.
The Poor ones on the bottom MIGHT get the idea that THEY have enough people to RUn the country THEMSELVES..
We wouldnt be able to foster Clashes between the different groups, and get them UPSET with each other…they MIGHT group up and protect/help each other AGAINST US..
NO..we couldnt/wouldnt do that..
>> StoopidFlanders said, on October 28th, 2009 at 7:09 am
>> This is simply a continuation of Bush’s interventionist foreign policies. In other words at least Barack Hussein Obama is doing something to keep us safe from terrorists.
As of a six weeks ago, Obama EXCEEDED Bush’s record of keeping America safe!
OK, so it’s not Obama’s style to strut around in a cod piece before the troops every time a terrorist operation is foiled, but his administration has been working hard on this threat — AS YOU WELL KNOW IF YOU READ THE NEWS.
… and he hasn’t invaded any wrong countries yet, like Bush did!
They don’t call Sr. poppy for nothing.
Adam Curry pointed out that the marines apologized for ruining a farmers poppies.
Meanwhile I am 5 years away from getting my marijuana sales felony expunged.
I am disgusted over the edge disgusted. This latest CIA link is no surprise, infact all us conspiracy crack pots have already shocked and awed ourselves with this information.
I hope the troops are learning how to produce poppies and marijuana. Its time to bring em home and put em to work. We should be the #1 exporter of Marijuana, Hash, Opium, Heroin, etc. Plus we should be growing Hemp for food clothing shelter fuel etc. etc.
The troops can guard the airports, the borders, and our crops. There is a chief of police that has gone boss hog out here and I think the troops would be better off taking him out than messing with war lords in Afghanistan. If there is one chief of police that I know about I am sure there are many others who are also going boss hog and the citizens would enjoy some american help in getting rid of the vermin.
Reagan had it right all along…
Didn’t he?
@ #12
Funny how the Taliban ruined Poppy Bushes Opium Crop. No Problem dad We’ll just blow up 3 buildings and blame it on the Taliban, well have that poppy crop growing again in no time.
Good write up that relates to this topic.
That could never happen here.
Oh wait…
Sounds like the Bulger brothers.
Billy was the Massachusetts Senate President while his brother Whitey was a paid FBI informant and head of a local Boston crime family.
Another “great” western idea: upgrading primitive cavemen society into democracy.
lol
Its a very old story. CIA recruits thugs, trains them to be really evil, uses them for a while then points them out as an evil example. From the Shah of Iran, through Noriega from Panama and right up to Saddam Hussein this has happened over and over and will continue to happen forever. It is the CIA that is evil and needs to be shut down.
Not new news. Adam has been saying this on “No Agenda” for quite some time.
Looks like the “Crack Pot” has scored again
Great idea New York Times, while you’re busy revealing the identities of the ones collaborating for the CIA why don’t you go on an post pictures of undercover CIA, NSA and FBI agents?
So Angel, to summarize, you don’t mind that the biggest drug dealer in the whole frikin world is working for the CIA, you care that the NYT would cover that as a story.
Tell me, do you work for the CIA, or are you just fully in support of a rogue government on principle?
#2, #4, #5. My understanding is that the theocracy was not really a failed state. Yes it was repugnant, starting with its treatment of women and moving down from there. But it did have law and order, the mythical Mussolini-Italy trains running on time, or as closely as they have in a century. No, the theocracy didn’t fail, it was defeated militarily. In six years, the forces of goodness and light had defeated the strongest military power in the world (I’m talking about Nazi Germany) and started rebuilding. But in Afghanistan, which never was much more than a basket case militarily, they’ve mostly fuddled around for six years, despite the human losses. How long will it be before moderate Afghanis say “Fzck this, I hate the Taliban but let’s bring them back so we can get on with our lives.” ? Goodwill has an expiration date. The date is not printed on the packaging, but it does have one.
#20 Li,
“Tell me, do you work for the CIA, or are you just fully in support of a rogue government on principle?”
The CIA does not do pretty things, good things, nice things or PR campaigns. They do whatever they have to do in order to preserve their country’s interest. Or at least that was they used to do during the Cold War, nowadays they’re just a shadow of what they used to be thanks to Republican Cronysm.
Sounds like they were buying information not arranging a love match. Get over it.
The only thing that matters is was the information good? If yes they got our money’s worth if not they need a new informant.
I wonder if the anti drug campaign in Afghanistan is structured to avoid Hamid’s brother’s operation or even aid them. If you really want to bring down the crime stats in a bad area the best way is to allow an effective and mature gang to control it. They make money and allow the police to avoid getting their hands dirty(let the trash take itself out).
#5 suggests that it is wrong to say that Afghanistan’s future is as a drug state or an extreme religious/terrorist state. What other options would you suggest?
Afghanistan has an extremely militarized and poorly educated population, NO infrastructure, and extremely rugged terrain.
There are tons of very poor places that don’t have Afghanistan’s “special circumstances.” Team Sweatshop will empty the bench before even considering Afghanistan. Hey, I guess they might win the lottery…
You kids are either very young or poorly informed. The Iran Contra affair was much more disgusting, and thanks to his role in that Oliver North got his job at Fox. There’s nothing, nothing, your government won’t do in the name of national security. Now, don’t you feel much safer?