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Karzai's Narco-trafficking Brother Is On CIA's Payroll
Newshoggers.com —
... government being seen as legitimate, I can't think of it. And as for U.S. policy of preventing heroin trafficking, at least some of the money from which helps fund the Taliban? It's in the crapper.
The best that anonymous officials can say in the CIA's defense is that there's "no proof of Ahmed Wali Karzai’s involvement in drug trafficking, certainly nothing that would stand up in court." Well, not a court in Afghanistan, certainly.
But Andrew Exum has some very forceful things to say about Ahmed Walid Karzai, who he terms "AWK": ...
Mike's Blog Roundup
Crooks and Liars —
d r i f t g l a s s: Nobody left but the crazies (h/t Frank Chow)
Burnt Orange Report: Lawyers speaking out in response to Todd Willingham's "utterly disgraceful" trial attorney
Abu Maqawama: The most important article on Afghanistan you'll read this week
Open Left: A second fire has started on the public option fight, this time in the House.
TPMMuckraker: Pelosi's claim that the CIA misled her is validated by the House Intel Committee
The Satirical Political Report: ...
Today in Afghanistan News
Matthew Yglesias —
... , paying bribes to Hamid Karzai’s opium trafficking brother “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.” Leading COIN theorists do not approve but this raises, in a very pointed way, the issue of whether COIN-in-practice stands any realistic chance of resembling the theory and rhetoric. ...
Karzai’s Bro
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan —
Exum says that Karzai's brother being on the CIA's dole is the most significant news of the week: [If] this is true, and if the CIA is empowering Ahmed Wali Karzai
at the same time in which NATO/ISAF is saying abusive local
power-brokers are a threat to mission success, then this is yet another
example of NATO/ISAF carrying out one campaign in Afghanistan while the
CIA carries out another -- with both campaigns operating at cross
purposes to one another. I should say here that I am in no position to
confirm or deny this ...
Karzai's Brother A Spook?
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo —
... the Times story that not everyone in the US establishment is happy for the brothers. Filkins et. al. say it outright: "The ties to Mr. Karzai have created deep divisions within the Obama administration." But you could tell that from the very fact the story exists. CIA agents don't get outed to the press unless someone is very upset with their behavior. So exactly who is chafing at the payments to Ahmed? Sometime General McChrystal adviser Andrew Exum says he doesn't know if the story is true, but he does know that the military ...
CIA-Karzai Revelations Leave US Afghanistan Policy Lost in the Labyrinth
Firedoglake —
... My previous post intentionally left out mentions of Senator John Kerry’s defense of Ahmed Wali Karzai–the drug-dealing, election stealing, possibly Taliban-connected brother of the Afghan president–in an attempt to keep the piece to a manageable length. Boy, am I sorry I did that. . . today’s New York Times contains an article by Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti, James Risen and Helene Cooper that shows AWK is a CIA asset.
According to Andrew Exum (a.k.a., Abu Muqwama, h/t Steve Hynd), AWK is no run-of-the-mill petty ...
Remainders: Them apples
Ben Smith's Blog —
... First Marriage.
A large majority says Palin is unqualified for the presidency.
Matt Hiltzik pokes his head from behind the Beck curtain.
A critic parses the Obamas' taste in art.
Arnold sends a message.
Michael Wolff has a point.
Jeri Thompson hits back at Newt.
Gibbs meets a Fox exec.
Ambinder does a Deeds pre-mortem.
Begala calls Lieberman a traitor.
The CIA-Karzai story will anger the military.
Levi hints at more Palin dirt. ...
Top Ten Cloves: Possible Things That Distracted Northwest Pilots
The Garlic —
... 8. Got stumped, trying to figure out what Sarah Palin's new company is 7. Took turns acting out Air Trans commercials 6. They were arguing about Brett Favre 5. On the phone with Richard Henne, pitching new hoax, starring two real pilots 4. Pouring through Ancestry.Com, seeing if related to Ahmed Wali Karzai, to make claim to some of his money 3. Without telling ...
Richard Allen Smith: The CIA, The Brothers Karzai and Spinning our COIN Wheels
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... But the electoral and legitimacy ramifications really just scratch the surface. The Center For a New American Security's Andrew Exum discusses what it means, if true, for the NATO counterinsurgency (COIN) effort at Abu Muqawama: ...
Can Human Rights Win the War?
The American Prospect Articles —
... corruption." The U.S.-supported government of Hamid Karzai contains numerous former warlords and strongmen with poor human-rights records. Wali Ahmed Karzai, the president's brother, who is reputed to be involved with heroin trafficking, was revealed by The New York Times on Tuesday as a CIA asset -- even as the Taliban draws significant revenue from the drug trade. Andrew Exum, a fellow at the Center for New American Security who advised McChrystal's strategy review, wrote that military officials in southern Afghanistan he had spoken to described Wali Karzai's activities ...
Tomgram: Afghanistan as a Bailout State
TomDispatch —
... that the President's alleged drug-kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, whom American officials regularly and piously denounce, is, in fact, a long-term paid agent of the CIA and its literal landlord in the southern city of Kandahar. If you were a Taliban propagandist, you couldn't make this stuff up.) ...
Too Big to Fail?
Antiwar.com Original —
... that the president’s alleged drug-kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, whom American officials regularly and piously denounce, is, in fact, a long-term paid agent of the CIA and its literal landlord in the southern city of Kandahar. If you were a Taliban propagandist, you couldn’t make this stuff up.) With the second round of elections already a preemptive disaster, and foreigners visibly involved in the process, all of this is a Taliban bonanza. The words “occupation,” “puppet government,” and the like undoubtedly ring ever truer in Afghan ears. You don’t have to be a ...
Too Big to Fail? Why All the President's Afghan Options Are Bad Ones
Commondreams.org Views —
... that the President's alleged drug-kingpin brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, whom American officials regularly and piously denounce, is, in fact, a long-term paid agent of the CIA and its literal landlord in the southern city of Kandahar. If you were a Taliban propagandist, you couldn't make this stuff up.) With the second round of elections already a preemptive disaster, and foreigners visibly involved in the process, all of this is a Taliban bonanza. The words "occupation," "puppet government," and the like undoubtedly ring ever truer in Afghan ears. You don't have to be a ...
