Hamid Karzai's bro on CIA payroll

[Gzette]

The source

Article refers to Karzia's rule as a warlord in South Afghanistan as mafialike and speculates he's involved in drug trade. What does this undermine more, war efforts or Karzai's shakey rule over the realm? For some reason I'm sure it's Obama's fault, but I'm gonna go with Hamid Karzai.

Afghanistan could have been the War on Terror (TM) we dreamed of if it had just be done right: Go in, get Bin Laden and GTFO. It has been grossly mismanaged due mostly now to our forces being spread to thin. When it started it was mostly bureaucratic fuck ups and war lords half heartedly supporting the troops when it came to things besides taking brief cases full of $$ (IE actually killing Al Qaeda) that derailed us. But this kind of crap shows just what a long way to go we have in that country.

Is this Obama's Vietnam? I definitely saying maybe.

[Wulfran]

In some ways, I don't find this surprising at all: the US chose someone to be Afghanistan's leader after they tore down the Taliban's rule after 9/11, so why wouldn't it be someone they had ties with/knowledge of? The place was a shithole, run by a collection of quasi-feudal warlords, so the most obvious course of action is to take one that you think you can work with, try and clean him up a bit, and start building from there. With that environment, anyone with enough political base to be a power is going to have skeletons, and the corruption is almost cultural.

I agree it could have been The War On Terror (TM) that so many wanted but Bush pissed that opportunity away, just like Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton did before him (its not gospel but Charlie Wilson's War starring Tom Hanks gives a little background on to the creation of modern Afghanistan and why I blame other leaders, and in fairness blame should go to ALL of NATO and the fucking Russians most of all). I don't really get how come anyone would call it "Obama's Vietnam" when Dubya was the one who sent troops in and then mismanaged it until it became the clusterfuck it is presently. Same as the economic mess: blame and name it after the guy who is supposed to clean it up, not the one who made it?

[Gzette]

I agree it doesn't make sense. But hey that's politics and the dittoheads will eat it up.

[Nick]

Bush's vietnam thx.

Karzai is a well known scumbag, that in itself isn't news.

[Gzette]

Vietnam and Afghanistan analogous by any means. But the Afghan front appears it will be far more draining on the U.S. and Obama than it was during Bush's admin. That's where I think the comparison is valid.