Karzai's brother on CIA payroll for last 8 years

[Kleptocracy]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/karzais-brother-on-cia-pa_n_336279.html

[Neville]

So?

[Curtis24]

Karzai himself is practically held afloat solely by U.S. power, so it wouldn't surprise me if he has ties to the CIA.

[MacGuffin]

And?

[YHWH]

This changes everything.,

[C.J.Woolf]

The money quote:


The CIA's ties to Karzai, who is a suspected player in the country's illegal opium trade, have created deep divisions within the Obama administration, the Times said.

Allegations that Karzai is involved in the drug trade have circulated in Kabul for months. He denies them.

Critics say the ties with Karzai complicate the United States' increasingly tense relationship with his older brother, President Hamid Karzai. The CIA's practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.
The Karzais are all about the money (i.e., corrupt) and there's money in opium, so no surprise there. Even so, it makes the US and nominal Afghan governments look bad to the less cynical out there, including most Afghans.

[Ferrus]

The Karzais are all about the money (i.e., corrupt) and there's money in opium, so no surprise there. Even so, it makes the US and nominal Afghan governments look bad to the less cynical out there, including most Afghans.
The irony is these are the kind of attributes typically associated with Westerners, which is why it is so easy for Islamist groups to portray Khazai and other Middle Eastern bigmen (elected or non elected) as Westernised, effete and anti-Islamic. He has been bought with Western gold, succumed to the temptations of what they see as a decadent society and has become a stooge. And to the majority of the impoverished population, this leads to a sense of disgust. Of course, the majority of people just live their lives grumbling, but the circumstance is created such that those of unusual zeal, or with nothing else to live for, are very easily attracted to anti-government activity of the Taliban.

[Kleptocracy]

One


So?

Plus one


And?

Equals



The Karzais are all about the money (i.e., corrupt) and there's money in opium, so no surprise there. Even so, it makes the US and nominal Afghan governments look bad to the less cynical out there, including most Afghans.

The CIA have been caught out smuggling and dealing with drugs and funding terrorists etc many times yet they continue to operate with as much influence and secrecy as they've ever had and without criticism from any senior government officials. This is the type of thing that goes on in the average kleptocracy.