Carry on, James Jesus Angleton.

At any rate, the link between AWK and various shady OGA forces operating out of Camp Gecko/Maholic has been the subject of much gossip. Amnesty International did a report earlier this year pointing out the problematic nature of the Gecko OGA operations, which are totally outside the OEF/NATO chain of command. As far as I know the problem persists, and is likely to get worse.

It doesn’t seem to be a ‘relentless focus’ on opium, rather, the links between the insurgents and criminal elements are there and should be dealt with. I’m defining criminal elements as more than the drug lords, though they are there also.

I see your point about the drug smugglers but is the answer ignoring them or is the answer dealing with them and AWK also?

That’s my recollection.

This has less to do with Ahmed Wali and more to do with his brother Hamid. Read it with 7 Nov-runoff-tinted glasses and you’ll see the deeper issue.

Though it does have epic timing, when you consider those runoff-tinted glasses. Makes me wonder if someone was sitting on the story, because as has been noted, it’s not really a surprise.

For example, to me the bigger issue is that, since we added 50 or so drug smugglers to our “shoot on sight” list, we’ve placed ourselves in the position of murdering Ahmed Wali Karzai’s business competition. If we had instead ignored the opium side of things and focused instead on the insurgency and the economic/social/political issues and underpin an opium culture, there’d be far less moral incoherence in coopting AWK to suit our purposes.

You guys at Registan really don’t believe in the links between opium/crime & the Taliban but I don’t really know why? I have read through some of your arguments – and haven’t been convinced. Is there something that you’re not sharing, that you know? I’m not trying to be an inflammatory – just curious.