President Hamid Karzai's half-brother and the kingmaker of Kandahar was a CIA asset.
His cover was blown not in Afghanistan but inside the United States, when rivalries between various American intelligence agencies resulted in blowing Mr. Karzai's cover through a leak in an American newspaper.
The wily younger Karzai became a marked man since that day.
He was most probably CIA's front man for the opium trade. Taliban ended this trade but CIA revived it after 2002 to finance its burgeoning secret empire in Afghanistan away from the prying eyes of US Congress that checks the agency's budget.
The junior Karzai was killed by a trusted aide, most probably as a result of a feud.
His death represents a huge loss for CIA at a difficult time. While other departments of the US government complained about the influence of corrupt warlords such as Mr. Wali Karzai, it is interesting that CIA continued to protect him.
His death leaves a huge vacuum in the Pashtun strongholds of southern Afghanistan. It is akin to opening a front for the CIA and US military in their Afghan backyard when they least needed it.
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