Wait a second... I thought drugs were bad...

In response to "Brother of Afghan Leader Said to be Paid by C.I.A." by Dexter Flinkings, Mark Mazzetti, and James Risen of The New York Times: Wednesday, 27 October.

President Hamid Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, is accused of being paid by the Central Intelligence Agency. The services for which he is paid include helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force, called the Kandahar Strike Force, around Kandahar, where Ahmed Karzai resides. Normally, this kind of information would not be surprising or in any way regrettable, as we are in a war in Afghanistan: their leaders obviously need protection.
What is surprising is the presumption that Ahmed Wali Karzai is a major proponent of the lucrative opium trade which supports the Afghan economy. Chances are, we are reminded, he is benefitting from the largest opium trade system in the world. And that's not to mention that we know that the Taliban also generates a majority of its wealth from the opium trade. Karzai is seen as a direct connection with the Taliban, especially when it comes to More importantly, to remember the C.I.A.'s involvement in the Middle-East and abroad during the mid-twentieth century is to realize that our government's intent in Afghanistan may not be what we suspect or want.
To support those who are generating this drug trafficking in Afghanistan, is to support the degeneration and disunity within the country. How can we ever hope to complete the goal of a "free", "united" Afghanistan if the C.I.A., a source of "behind-the-scenes" policy execution, links itself with the supposed enemy? Not all the details of this situation are certain, but the American people have a right to know what their government is up to abroad: if it is working in the interests of its citizens, or if it yet again creates a double-standard with hypocritical behavior. We need to be aware of the whole perspective.