Looks like the CIA is trying to replicate its success in Colombia.

If by "success" you mean arming and funding murderous thugs tied to the drug trade, death squads, terrorism, impunity through deniability for the thoroughly delegitimized puppet government, and endless civil war.

What's not to like?

...in country have already known for a long, long time. The magic acronym CIA apparently makes folks back here sit up and notice, but I'd actually bet that it's less significant than what the guy's received via DoD (unless CIA's the formal payment channel they decided to funnel stuff through - DoD driven or not [maybe less oversight]). Chayes, to pick just one commentator, has been consistently vocal on this for a very long time.

“The absence of any US-Iran bilateral channel...may have the perverse effect of reinforcing Iranian interest in progressing in the nuclear realm so that the US will be forced to take it seriously and engage it directly." ~ Richard Haass

From the time we started backing the NA this was the strategy, and from what i've read the CIA handed out the money. It's not just Ahmed Karzai. Steve also has a post up linking to a list of Afghan warlords. According to just about every account outside of US mainstream news, everyone on that list has been on our payroll.

Go back and read statements from Bush/Cheney officials; they publicly called it "the warlord strategy", and it became more important as the administration ramped up plans for Iraq.

All this talk coming from both sides of the Potomac about "population centric counter-insurgency" is pretty much crap. We spent the last eight years nailing our own feet to the floor. Americans may not know it, but i'll bet that just about every illiterate Afghan can explain the underlying problem.

But what the he'll difference does it make what happens in Afghanistan? I am really missing something. The most amazing waste of mental energy I have ever seen. Three super powers in 100 years have invaded that god fosaken landlocked rock. It is honestly the height of idiocy.

Send more troops! Win the war! Lets get the Missouri out of mothballs for the surrender ceremony now!