From Bad To Worse

More broadly, some American officials argue that the reliance on Ahmed Wali Karzai, the most powerful figure in a large area of southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, undermines the American push to develop an effective central government that can maintain law and order and eventually allow the United States to withdraw. (NYT)

Turns out that the CIA has been paying Karzai's brother, despite the fact that he is perhaps the Al Capone of the heroin trade.  Lovely.  The good news is that the revelations about this are likely to mean the end of this practice. 

Just when you thought the CIA had lost all credibility, it finds some more to sell.