The work week began Monday with Matthew Rosenberg's frontpage story detailing the CIA's plying of Afghan quisling Hamid Karzai with countless bags of cash (at one point we were in competition with Iran) -- a practice stretching back to the foundation of the current state of Afghanistan. Warlords were paid to fight the Taliban. Rosenberg's story is not merely a revelation of corrupt practices; it provides insight into the very nature of our mission in Afghanistan, which now stands revealed as a sham. As soon as the money dries up Karzai's government will disappear (either that or become the proxy of another foreign power willing to foot the bill).
It's been interesting to gauge the reaction to this story, which as far as I can tell has been pretty close to zero. The New York Times followed up Rosenberg's frontpage story Monday with a reaction piece -- Karzai in Finland thanking the U.S. for the money -- the next day also written by Rosenberg. Wednesday the Times published an unsigned editorial asking Congress to demand an explanation from the CIA. Mark Steel had a story, "Look on the bright side: There’s a roaring heroin trade in Afghanistan, and it's all thanks to us," in yesterday's Independent. And that's about it. (Kevin Mahken has a short piece in the New Republic pointing out that this is the way things have been done throughout history.)
Today the New York Times under a "Cash for Karzai: A C.I.A. Caper" header publishes several good letters, one of which is from a former Foreign Service officer:
Your report is old news, albeit dramatic and in flagrante delicto.
As a Foreign Service officer for three decades, I observed up close the contradiction between C.I.A. officers, usually under embassy cover, paying cash for access and secrets while the rest of us did it by charm alone.
It was particularly disheartening in post-independence Africa of the 1960s, when idealism still prevailed and the Agency for International Development was charged with building democracy while the Central Intelligence Agency rushed to outbid the French, the Russians and others to corrupt new and vulnerable African leaders.
Today, we have the demeaning spectacle of agency bag men vying with the Iranians to bestow briefcases bulging with cash on the notably corrupt Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
This is occurring while American servicemen and women are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan, and while we still have the temerity to talk about bringing democracy to that benighted land.
RICHARD L. JACKSONOur imperial project in Afghanistan is irredeemable. Let's hope that this is so widely acknowledged that the scheduled troop withdrawal proceeds according to plan.
Wellington, Fla., April 29, 2013
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