Pushers

Even as the United States punishes its own citizens harshly for trafficking, selling or even possessing drugs, the C.I.A. conspires to prop up Ahmed Karzai, the brother of Afghanistan's president – a man who conspires with drug kingpins and facilitates the export of opium, heroin and other drugs. The New York Times reports that according to current and former American officials, Karzai has received "regular payments" from the C.I.A. for "much of the last eight years."

[Evidence] suggests strongly that Mr. Karzai has enriched himself by helping the illegal trade in poppy and opium to flourish. The assessment of these military and senior officials in the Obama administration dovetails with that of senior officials in the Bush administration....“Hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money are flowing through the southern region, and nothing happens in southern Afghanistan without the regional leadership knowing about it”....

Counternarcotics officials have repeatedly expressed frustration over the unwillingness of senior policy makers in Washington to take action against Mr. Karzai — or even begin a serious investigation of the allegations against him. In fact, they say that while other Afghans accused of drug involvement are investigated and singled out for raids or even rendition to the United States, Mr. Karzai has seemed immune from similar scrutiny.

Torture is a war crime unless the C.I.A. does it, in which case we call it patriotic. Conspiring with drug traffickers can get you a life sentence, unless the C.I.A. does it, in which case we call it foreign policy.

I'd love to see some local American prosector bring drug conspiracy charges against Karzai. Given how broad American conspiracy laws are, it's quite possible, legally speaking, that such charges could even be brought against members of the C.I.A. who are effectively bankrolling him. Americans have been convicted based on less. Why is it that we spend so much time and money and moral indignation punishing American drug users when our very government is facilitating the supply?