NYT Breaking: Karzai's brother on payroll of the ...... CIA

[beachmom]

Oh my

http://twitter.com/nytimes

[wisteria]

1. OH my indeed. Is this to believed?

Senator Kerry was asked about Karzai's brother yesterday and he said he has asked for documentation or other information to support this claim and no one has come forth with any damning information.

[beachmom]

2. Exactly. Remember how he said that he "didn't want to say too much"?

I am awaiting a real article. The NYT said this comes from API.

[wisteria]

25. He also said that President Karzai brought up the subject of his brother first.

I wonder if this- if true- is being put out now to pressure Pres. Karzai to remove his brother from his role in the government?

[karynnj]

3. Just came to post that - this really blows any remote hope that that

government can be seen as legitimate. Whether it is true or not. That this is coming out within two weeks of the election is really troubling. The big question is who in the Obama administration could be the link? (I wonder about Holbrooke)

This is not good.

[ProSense]

4. Who knows what to make of this NYT

article

[beachmom]

5. Me neither. See confused picture again. Sigh. nt

[beachmom]

6. Ugh, the "AfPak" channel on Foreign policy just twittered "Kerry Fail!"

because of this story.

Spencer Ackerman is gentler:

http://washingtonindependent.com/65425/karzais-brother-is-a-cia-asset

At this point, everything about the U.S. policy toward the Afghan drug trade — from tolerance to eradication during the Bush administration to an evolving approach to cultivating alternatives — now ought to be questioned. As in questioned in open congressional session. CIA money funds a politically connected drug dealer. Opium funds the Taliban. We are in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. How much CIA money has indirectly funded the Taliban?

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who brokered Hamid Karzai’s acceptance of the runoff vote, said in a speech yesterday that in his talks with President Karzai, the subject of Ahmed Wali Karzai’s ties to the drug trade came up, and Kerry’s been unable to confirm anything. “I have requested, from our intelligence sources our law enforcement folks, the smoking gun,” Kerry said. “What evidence? nobody has … Nobody’s given me hard-and-fast evidence. So this swirls around.”

Wonder why no one has told Kerry anything…

OMG. It's deja vu.

CIA drugrunning, anyone?

Edit: Everyone is making fun of Kerry for "vouching" for Karzai's brother. Sigh. I swear, this sucks. Kerry should do a damned hearing. I am pretty upset about this. I hate being lied to by the government. And it isn't just us, but the Senator, too. He was set up!!!! He should do hearings.

[karynnj]

7. Well, it might explain why our intelligence didn't provide evidence - if there

was any. What I don't like is that if this was something floating around the administration's AfPac team, they really should have briefed Kerry before he went. (There is no way they did from Kerry's comments.)

[ProSense]

8. This is ridiculous. First of all, if he addressed it with Karzai, he had to know

something. The reality is that Kerry is not going to shoot off his mouth about unsubstantiated information. He should hold hearings.

[karynnj]

10. He said that Karzai brought it up and denied the drug charge

I think Kerry's answer shows that he did not know anything of this or he would not have answered that he asked our intelligence what they knew. He easily could have said when asked that it had not been proven or something vaguer. It is ridiculous that the Obama team did not tell him this and send him to spend days with Karzai. Kerry was briefed by Holbrooke before going and not telling him really puts him in an awkward position. (At this point I don't trust either him or Clinton)

[beachmom]

12. OMG, you guys. If Karzai's brother helped rig the election then ....

WE helped rig the election.

I am sorry but if he is associated w/ the CIA then his sins are ours. This is disgusting and outrageous.

Honestly, this reshuffles the deck for me. How can Karzai's government be legitimate now? This association is POISON.

Perhaps this was the intent for this article? This all started under Bush, but apparently not halted under Obama.

Diary on it. Not on rec list, but look at the reaction:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/27/797494/-NYTimes-Breaking:-Karzais-brother-on-CIA-payroll

[ProSense]

14. I agree, something is really fishy.

And the timing is really suspect.

[beachmom]

16. And now Ben from Politico in the act:

http://twitter.com/benpolitico

So maybe it wasn't all Kerry's charm RT @TimOBrienNYT Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll

I really think Kerry was set up to take a fall. But Obama is in trouble on this, too. Who are these forces at work?

[ProSense]

18. I don't think so. There was no guarantee that Karzai was going to agree to this run off.

If the CIA was involved in influencing the election, then they made a serious miscalculation.

[wisteria]

32. Maybe they have known about this, and have been pushing for Karzai to remove his brother

in order to continue to receive our governments support.

[karynnj]

19. The two people whose positions would have made them the likely

people to be there - Clinton and Holbrooke would be my guess. They may have known that once it was obvious there was fraud, they needed the run off, but wanted to be far away.

[ProSense]

21. It's likely that they believed the negotiations were going to fail.

Surprise. Now, the likely outcome is that Karzai loses or there is a coalition government. Either way, the scrutiny is on and someone has some explaining to do.

[karynnj]

26. I think it has to be Obama

Whoever knew and approved this reports to him. This may be his Bay of Pigs - and he needs to play the role of JFK. Then, just as we say about Afghanistan, he may need to institute some reforms. This is sickening as I really thought he was working to change that type of foreign policy.

This really falls far more on Obama than on Kerry, who at worse was duped. Obama either knew we were doing this or he has people doing things he would not approve of. Either way, not good.

[wisteria]

35. You know, the NYT has misreported before. Who are their sources?

This is all to suspect- the timing and all. Someone seems to want Karzai out.

[karynnj]

43. The NYT has misreported before, but James Risen is very good

I think he was the one who reported all the FISA stuff in 2005. That does not mean that he couldn't be passed bogus information from multiple sources. It does seem some one wants Karzai out.

[Inuca]

67. You are corect about Risen

He is a very serious and reliable journalist from everything I know. Nobody is foolproof, but Risen is definitely a name to be taken more seriously than most.

[Inuca]

66. Absolutely agree

a huge WTF?!?!? as I wake up to this story.

[wisteria]

34. None have said they are willing to go for a coalition government.

If Karzai denounces his brother and removes him before the election, then the election might go in his favor. If you remember, Kerry did say Karzai felt there were forces out to get him. I would hate to think Kerry vouged for our government and gave his word on things, only to have our administration using him. I just don't think they would do that-even Clinton. And, why Kerry?

[karynnj]

49. Why Kerry?

Because he has the credibility to do it and he was there.

[wisteria]

52. You really think he was set up? By whom? And, why? n/t

[karynnj]

54. Maybe "used" rather than "set up"

To me the obvious people would be the ones who chose to involve him - Clinton or Holbrooke.

[wisteria]

57. Used is bad. If it was Holbrooke and Clinton then they need to be removed.

Then they must have known and did nothing. This makes Obama look bad too.

[Inuca]

68. Yes! n/t

[karynnj]

69. Clinton )and I think Holbroke) are in Pakistan today, so I actually think that

people allied with them are very unlikely to have been involved in leaking. This might be a CIA leak.

[wisteria]

31. I will not go that far. If anything this seems to be out there to suggest the administration

is clueless.
Well, this will put the Hou story on the back burner.

[karynnj]

17. We rigged the election and we speak of "good enough governance"

I think Obama needs to look at who knew what when. The real question is who are the officials that put this out.

I know that the state department initially wanted to accept the election as did the UN until Galbraith spoke out on the fraud. It was only when the entire world rejected the fraud that the US wanted the run off. It stinks, but it looks like they used Kerry without briefing him on the fact that there was CIA involvement. He would not have brought up the fact that he asked our intelligence agencies after Karzai brought it up and denied it.

[ProSense]

22. You know, I really wouldn't put it pass all these assholes

to have expected a different outcome, which would have really squeezed Obama, and now they're left trying to discredit the outcome.

Regardless, if the run off elections fail, that's all the more reason not to commit more troops to Afghanistan.

[karynnj]

24. Oddly enough, the question, which was the first thing I thought of, was very lucky

Without it there would be questions of what Kerry knew.

By different outcome, do you mean Kerry failing to get agreement? Leaving Obama in the position of having to recognize some one not complying with the law?

[ProSense]

28. Yes, to the second question.

At the very least, having to make a decision without the public's knowledge of the link. Now, what would have happened had this come out after his decision had been made?

[karynnj]

33. OMG - you are right

Even assuming the best case that Obama knew none of this - it would mean that we enabled election fraud, then when it was discovered, insisted on the fraudulent results and many would think Obama was corrupt. The worst would totally discredit him. I so will not listen to talk radio this coming week - you know it will be ACORN = voter fraud.

I assume that Kerry will be asked about this and like you I hope that he will hold hearings, though I think the intelligence committee has jurisdiction. I hope his response will show the anger he should feel at the stupidity of the CIA doing this because it does compromise the entire effort. (His answer on the brother showed some anger that the man was potentially being smeared with no proof. )

[ProSense]

36. Yup. In light of this, Kerry's

success in changing the dynamics is really a huge deal. Agree, I think Intelligence Committee hearings are in order.

[wisteria]

30. You know the timing of all of this seems suspect. n/t

[Inuca]

65. Just became frontpage story

on Kos a few moments ago "NY Times: CIA Put President Karzai's Drug-Smuggling Brother on Its Tab". Big quote from what Kerry said on Monday.

[karynnj]

71. The comments though are not going after Kerry for the most part

(The only one that came close was a one liner noting the hypocrisy of Kerry and the US lecturing Afghanistan about corruption - which given the story is hard to question, though it ignores that Kerry actually did acknowledge that we had our problems too.

[ProSense]

13. Agree. What led Karzai to bring it up?

Do you think that maybe he didn't trust the other players (Holbrooke, etc.)? I don't think Kerry is going to say anything until he has all the facts. In Kerry's hand, I know light will be shed on this. Agree with you, what the hell was the State Department doing about this?

[beachmom]

15. This guy thinks the military leaked it out, or at least is happy that it was leaked:

http://twitter.com/shanewharris

If the military didn't expose the Karzai-CIA connection, they are probably thrilled that it's out. Degrades prez K's cred. Squeezes Obama.

[ProSense]

20. That's a hell of away to discredit Karzai, and it's a good thing that

Kerry has been emphasizing the credibility of the government in calling for a thorough assessment.

[karynnj]

23. True and it doesn't change that Obama seems to be moving to Kerry's postion

per the other thread and that it is Kerry's hearings that have made "good enough governance" an issue. The sad thing is that he did incredible work on those hearings and in designing the plan he did and it was even more important, if we were involved in the fraud, to have an honest runoff. Yet, others will link him to a corrupt Karzai.

I really wish I could be a fly on the wall when he calls Obama on this. People on Obama's team up to and including Obama set him up here.

[wisteria]

37. All the more reason for Karzai to remove his brother from the government.

Who knows, maybe this was part of the discussion Kerry had with Pres. Karzai.

[wisteria]

29. I think Kerry had to know something. He never vouched for the brother

he said, he has asked for information and no one had anything on the brother. It appeared to me that Kerry was evasive in his answer. It just might be he knew this was cooking, but couldn't say anything. It is also possible that the idea of removing the brother from the government was also discussed.
There is a lot more to this story.
I doubt the administration would of set Kerry up like this.

[beachmom]

41. Well, then he misled US.

I don't write for politicians who mislead the people. I swear I am OUT if he KNEW about this and then said what he said at that speech. Defending this brother, that there was no "smoking gun". Meanwhile, the guy is on the CIA payroll.

[wisteria]

47. He didn't actually defend the brother. All he said was he asked for intelligence

and nothing was forthcoming. He may have been working for the good of all in not revealing to much.

Then again, I am only speculating.

[karynnj]

50. sadly, I am with you and I will be very disappointed that Kerry

really isn't what he claimed to be. (I don't think an ends justify the means works here, as by his own definition, his plan would not work without a valid government. This is exactly what he spoke passionately against in 1971.)

[wisteria]

56. They need a stable Afghanistan to stabilize Pakistan.

I may well be wrong, but sometimes I do believe for the good of all, certain things have to be undertaken. I strongly believe that Kerry is a true patriot and whatever he does he does it in the best interest of our country.

If he was used as a patsy, then there goes all the new found credibility he has built up. Who would take him seriously on anything anymore? He unfortunately will look foolish and used.
There has to be more to this entire situation.

[wisteria]

27. No one really knows anything, and they are running with this story.

Kerry never vouched for the brother, he said no one had provided him with any proof of anything. It is very possible that he knew something was in the works, but could not say.
And, so people could not wait to go after Kerry.

[karynnj]

38. That answer actually works to Kerry's favor

Had he known anything, he would have given a generic answer on getting rid of corruption. Instead, he speaks of karzai bringing his brother up and saying that the drug charges are not true and Kerry answering that our intelligence services could give him nothing. Now, even in this article, the brother denies the drug charges.

He was not asked if the brother was a CIA agent or if he was involved in election fraud. Remember that Kerry got Karzai to admit the fraud and submit to a runoff. That would actually "correct" the election fraud, as no one things he wasn't the top vote getter. The fact is that a runoff was better than no runoff.

This really reflects more on Leon Panetta (chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton ), Obama, his state department's top Afghanistan people, and the country. Kerry has never been in a position to make this our policy. The only question is whether he knew anything about it. If he did, revealing it would be a security breech and it would jeopardize our Afghanistan position to make it public. Given his comments, I would guess he didn't know as he would have not wanted to say more on either Karzai.

[wisteria]

39. Yes, the answer does work in Kerry's favor. Kerry was asked to talk with Karzai.

At the request of others. He did what was asked of him. He may or may not have known about the brothers involvement with the CIA, but that this has been a big secrete for 8 years I find hard to believe. It is very possible that Kerry was not able to talk about everything he knew.
Actually, for Obama, it looks bad either way. How do you explain you don't know what your own CIA is doing or that you knew and allowed it. Perhaps, he was working to end the relationship between the brother and the CIA. Maybe Kerry was asked to discuss the brother's removal with President Karzai.

[beachmom]

40. If Kerry knew of Karzai's brother's involvement with the CIA then that makes him look bad

The President's BROTHER on the CIA payroll???? Disgusting and corrupt. That makes him officially a puppet of the U.S. government.

If I was Afghan, I would be DONE with Karzai with this news. But... they probably already knew.

You guys seriously think it would be GOOD that Kerry knew this when he gave his speech? Not me. He either was in the know and misled We the People at that speech or he was deliberately left in the dark. As bad as the latter makes him look (out of the loop), that is FAR better than the former.

[wisteria]

42. No, not if he was working with President Karzai to change it. To remove the brother.

What was Kerry to do about it if in fact he did know? Perhaps, Obama and Kerry were working to change this situation quietly and someone did not want it to remain quite. Look, eight years is a long time for someone to be on the CIA payroll and no one to know about it. If it was known, then the problem becomes how to deal with it.

[beachmom]

44. I am sorry but Kerry led us to believe that this brother was being smeared.

That is the impression I was left with. Now we find out he is with the CIA??? If everyone "knew" why is this such a big story?

[karynnj]

48. I agree - potentially being smeared - as he simply said he hadn't been given

any proof. I don't think everybody knew, or this wouldn't be a big story.

[wisteria]

51. It was a well kept secret? And, I never took Kerry's answer to mean more than he was not going to

accuse someone of something without any facts.

Actually,I just can't bring myself to believe that he would be set up like this and for what purpose? Why talk with Karzai at all and attempt to get him to work on straightening out his government if we did not want to work with him at all? Why would they have him do this and set him up? Are there forces in the White House working against Obama trying to force his hand on this?

[wisteria]

45. Maybe the purpose of the leak is to try and remove Pres. Karzai.

It was looking as though he was going to win the run off. Sen. Kerry did say in his talks with the the Afgan president, that Karzai thought there was a movement afoot to get rid of him.
Why do you blame President Karazi? It is his brother who has betrayed his brother's trust.
There is a lot about this entire situation that is strange. Like being on the payroll of the CIA for eight years and no one knowing about it. I doubt that no one knew this frankly.
I don't understand how you feel you would have been mislead by Kerry if in fact he did know about the CIA link. He and Obama may have been working to push Pres. Karzai to remove his brother from office in order for our continued support.

[karynnj]

53. If he knew, he knew something that if revealed would destroy

the confidence Afghans could have built up in their government. That confidence is essential to Kerry's plan. Without it, it is a failed plan and American soldiers would be fighting with a completely flawed plan.

[karynnj]

46. I agree

I think Kerry might not have given that speech if he knew. I suspect that he was left out of the loop. If he were in the loop, he would not have praised Karzai and his answer to the question of the brother would definitely been less detailed and more nondescript.

I am not sure that being left in the dark on something like this is bad. If true, the reason would be that they knew he would not have gone along. (It is not really clear what the best thing to do would have been if he knew. However, giving a speech recommending a plan that he rightfully said needs good governance would not be good.)

[beachmom]

9. Paging BLM:

marcambinder RT @SteveHynd: The conspiracy folk are going to have a field day - a real, honest to Goddess CIA/Heroin trafficking connection

What is he saying? That there WASN'T an honest to Goddess CIA/cocaine connection in the '80s?

[karynnj]

11. not BLM, but there were rumours back in the Bush day

that the CIA was behind the huge resurgence of poppy fields in Afghanistan. (In addition, there were DU comments that "Poppy" Bush was nicknamed for long ago heroin running. ) There was no proof of either, but they were common in the BFEE stuff.

Even the CIA acknowledged that the Cocaine stuff was real - that they ignored it, not that they coordinated or ran it.

[beachmom]

55. Karzai's brother had threatened a McClatchy reporter for asking too many questions

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/117/story/67823.html

Watch the video and read the article.

This is Karzai's brother reacting to the reporter's probing questions:

He began to glare at me and questioned whether I was really a reporter.

"It seems like someone sent you to write these things," he said, scowling.

Karzai glared some more.

"You should leave right now," he said.

I stuck my hand out to shake his; if I learned anything from three years of reporting in Iraq and then trips to Afghanistan during the past couple of years, it's that when things turn bad, you should cling to any remaining shred of hospitality.

Karzai grabbed my hand and used it to give me a bit of a push into the next room. He followed me, and his voice rose until it was a scream of curse words and threats.

I managed to record just one full sentence: "Get the (expletive) out before I kick your (expletive)."

I won't describe the rest, because it involves the Afghans I was working with, none of whom wants to risk revenge in a country where feuds often end in blood.

He said in the video that the brother threatened to beat him.

I realize I am throwing a temper tantrum in this thread, but this is vitally important. John Kerry is a good man, and I would say is one of the more truthful politicians in DC (not a 100%, politicians have to fudge sometimes). I just feel like he was kind of "taken in" by Pres. Karzai a bit, and allowed himself to gloss over the fact that his brother is a thug. And, apparently, "our" thug. Perhaps, maybe something honest DID happen in their conversation. As in, Pres. Karzai saying he has a problem with his brother and is having trouble solving it. But at this point, there is no evidence of that. I understand why Kerry had to say something nice about Pres. Karzai given the arm twisting that went on. But I feel like he should have tread more carefully in regards to the brother. Because that brother is no good.

And if Kerry knew he was on the payroll of the CIA, that just makes it all doubly worse. I don't want him to be part of the dark conspiracies of the CIA, but the investigator of them.

[wisteria]

58. But, as an investigator, he should of been asking these questions and probing.

I think Kerry will be damned if he does or damned if he didn't in this case. All of his new found respect will be discredited one way or another. I really hope I am wrong, but I see no way he comes out well. But, then again neither does Obama.
Tinfoil hat theory- could this be a Clinton power play and if it is, why and for what?

[beachmom]

60. I don't know. She's in Pakistan right now. I don't see why she

cares whether Kerry gets a couple of favorable pieces in the traditional media. Call me crazy, but she probably wants at the end of her tenure to be thought of as a great SoS. I can't see this CIA/brother stuff reflecting well on her either.

But yes, at the moment, everyone is making fun of Kerry.

Hillary in Pakistan for 3 days:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8329166.stm

A little bit of tag team on the KLB is in order.

[wisteria]

61. Sad, they use him as an easy target all the time-these little macho assholes. n/t

[karynnj]

70. Just saw that too

In earlier stories where the dates on that were not disclosed, Holbrooke was suppose to be going with her.

Like you, I don't think that they would have leaked this at this point. (I assume they had to have known - and if they didn't know, than expecting that Kerry could have known is not reasonable.) If that is the case, this looks more like a leak within the CIA. If the state department knew, it might be the guy who just resigned - as it leads to his conclusion - get out of there.

[ProSense]

72. They're being the same assholes they always were. I wouldn't get upset by this

They do the same thing to Obama, worse.

There are a lot of DLC types out there, and they gravitate toward anything Clinton, they loathe any accomplishment by Kerry and try to wrap Obama's foreign policy in Clinton's cloak.

The number of times I've seen Obama's statements or efforts ignored in articles about foreign policy that go out of the way to laud Hillary is really telling. He's doing a so-so job, but she's just the greatest ever. LOL!

[beachmom]

59. Marc Ambinder on Twitter has some theories:

http://twitter.com/marcambinder

Times piece suggests that Karzai's assistance to American forces is widely known but that he got paid for it and by the CIA wasn't.

Theories on CIA/Karzai: 1 -- it is what it is. 2: disclosure helps undermine the brother in eyes of his peeps, giving Hamid reason to dsown.

3. US leaked Karzai's tie to US in order to get US-backed candidate (Abdillah^2) a boost. A classic counterintel op. 4. Something else

But then he adds:

Re, leaks: reality is that strategic leaks like this rarely work as intended. Too much uncertainty. My guess is that it was spsd to be secrt

He links to this ominous post:

@timothythompson seriously. Whoever leaked put a price on his head. If it was 'us,'.... That's back to Operation Mongoose days.

Good damned question:

So -- when Karzai was added to the payroll, did the Bush admin notify Congress?

[wisteria]

62. All are interesting.

Do you think Bush notified Congress? Or how about he just informed a few intelligence people in Congress who were sworn to secrecy.

[beachmom]

63. God, not that crap again.

And a member of Congress denies it, then there is an article saying they were told, blah, blah, blah.

[wisteria]

64. Yes. And, here is something I found at Huffpost about the brother.

This is from a couple of weeks ago. It appears that people were aware that Pres. Karzai's brother has been "assisting us".


key member of the House Intelligence Committee says the controversial brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai regularly helps U.S. intelligence -- but should not be considered an American spy.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-stein/drug-linked-karzai-brothe_b_322776.html

[ProSense]

73. This is pretty much the bottom line:

When the Obama administration says that it inherited an absolute mess from its predecessor, perhaps this might be an element of what it means.

[beachmom]

74. Wow, just like the Bush Administration, Karzai brothers declare war on NYT

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-28/the-karzai-brothers-fight-back/?cid=hp:mainpromo1

But Wednesday morning, the Karzais came out swinging. I woke up to an email from Mahmoud. “Here we go again, a clear case of hearsay and rumors. NY Times is becoming an instrument for special interest of the evil-doers of the world to achieve their political goals. What Mr. Risen has published against me, convinced me that presenting the truth about the world outside of the United States is not part of the agenda of the NY Times. In fact, misrepresentation of the international facts to the American people could be considered a serious national security threat to the United States of America. I will appreciate it if you could answer this propaganda, as I told you in the past, removing Ahmed Wali Karzai from Kandahar is a perfect strategy for Taliban to take over Kandahar.”

I called Mahmoud. He was angry. “This is being coordinated by the ISI (Pakistani intelligence service). They have been behind the assassinations of several provincial leaders who are against the Taliban. And my brother is the last major obstacle to them in the south. If they remove Ahmed Wali, the Taliban will fill the void.”

Mahmoud had particular venom for The New York Times even though James Risen is one of the paper's most respected foreign affairs journalists and his article was replete with specifics and seemed a bullet-proof piece of reporting. “We are being harassed by The New York Times. This is a smear campaign. James Risen has a vendetta against us. And the Times is obviously being fed by the far-left lobbyist groups who are paying them to do this. These leftists want Afghanistan destabilized, they want the Karzais out of power so there is a vacuum, and then they can say it is such a mess that the Americans should abandon the country. This is a coordinated plan, have no doubt about it.”

The Far Left???? Wow. Somebody page Michelle Malkin.

Oh, this is bad, bad, bad. Ugh

Wednesday morning, Ahmed rejected any such notion. “My friend, I have had a chance to read the article,” he said. “Everything is false. I explained everything to the Times reporter. I have nothing to do with the strike force. I get no money or cash from this. I told them that last night. I have not got a penny from anyone. Ask yourself, why is this coming up right before the election for my brother? It is clearly serving someone’s personal agenda.” Ahmed pointed to Senator John Kerry’s statement about him Tuesday. When asked if Ahmed Wali was a drug trafficker, Kerry told a reporter that he had asked United States intelligence and law-enforcement people for “the smoking gun — the evidence.” “Show me,” the senator said. “What do we know? And I tell you right now, folks, nobody has, nobody has, nobody’s given me the hard-and-fast.”

On the phone, Ahmed asked me: “So why doesn’t the U.S. government coordinate its actions? Is it Kerry who is speaking for the government and I am not this evil person, or is it the anonymous sources in the Times article that says I am spy and drug dealer? I’ve dealt with the drug accusations for five years. The spy charges are new.”

[beachmom]

75. Meteor Blades put up a post earlier today. It gives the entire transcript of what Kerry said:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/28/797945/-NY-Times:-CIA-Put-President-Karzais-Drug-Smuggling-Brother-on-Its-Tab

MB plays it straight.

Time magazine article says this:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1932862,00.html?iid=tsmodule

Senator John Kerry, after spending several days closeted with President Karzai while urging him to accept a runoff, and exhibiting perhaps a touch of Stockholm syndrome, told the Council on Foreign Relations that he has sought information from U.S. intelligence sources about Wali Karzai's alleged drug links, but "nobody has the smoking gun." True, perhaps, but if Americans are tampering with that evidence for short-term gain, there probably won't ever be one. Notorious American gangster Al Capone, it must be remembered, was never successfully charged with smuggling, gun-running or murder. Eventually of course, he was brought to justice — for tax evasion. Unfortunately, there are no such laws in Afghanistan.

[wisteria]

76. You are aware there are claims he is assisting us with intelligence?

Biden also is aware of the assistance, but was pushing the last administration to stop doing business with him, (he was Chairman then).


"key member of the House Intelligence Committee says the controversial brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai regularly helps U.S. intelligence -- but should not be considered an American spy.

Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, ranking Republican on the subcommittee overseeing Terrorism/Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, regularly visits Afghanistan, where his brother, an Army general, has also served.

Rogers said in an interview that Ahmed Wali Karzai, widely reported to be protecting the heroin trade in southern Afghanistan, "cooperates" with U.S. intelligence, but is not a controlled agent."


"Several U.S. lawmakers, including Vice President Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have urged the president to dismiss his brother from the council," Chandrasekaran wrote."



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-stein/drug-linked-karzai-brothe_b_322776.html

Now, this is not to say they were aware of the money- if in fact- the NYT story is correct.

I am going to take a wait and see attitude with this. I feel the timing of the piece is suspect.

[beachmom]

78. Yes, I am aware. But I don't think he is overall very helpful.

Just checking the WH correspondents tweeting today's WH briefing, Gibbs would absolutely not comment on the story.

Waiting and seeing amounts to never knowing. We will never know, and will have to rely on investigative journalists (if there are any left) to find out more.

I see no reactions that there will be hearings on this.

On the dkos thread, someone said Feingold defended Kerry, saying that he was persuading Karzai to clean up gov. I don't have a quote though.

[wisteria]

79. Well that is good if Feingold actually defended Senator Kerry efforts. .

And, Feingold is right, Kerry was trying to get Karzai to clean up his act.

[wisteria]

77. What the hell do they mean by Stockholm syndrome?

I wish I could ask the Times what they expect the US to do if we do not have any hard evidence against the brother. Make it up to get ride of him?

[beachmom]

80. That he was way too charmed by Karzai.

The thought occured to me as well.

[wisteria]

81. He has met with the President before this on many occasions.

I don't think this one occasion would have been that much different than the others. Kerry has been around dignitaries and Presidents for many years. I could see if he was new at this. I don't like what the Times is implying. Kerry is smarter and wiser than that. That comment does nothing but undermine his efforts. I doubt Holbrooke and Clinton would have gone along with this if they thought Kerry would lose his head over talking with Karzai. Aryn Baker is an idiot for writing this. She obviously knows nothing about Kerry.

Thanks for letting me know what the comment was implying-but,apparently it more closely relates to an abuser and a abused/or captive person's relationship. This was really wrong for them to imply. But, Time is part of CNN and they are the Clinton News Network.