In the Arena

AWKward

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Max Boot is right to wonder about the U.S. military’s political strategy in Kandahar Province, but he neglects to mention a rather significant point: According to the New York Times and U.S. government sources, Ahmed Wali Karzai (known to the military as AWK)–the local strongman and President Hamid Karzai’s half-brother–has been on the CIA payroll for years. And while Boot is right that it would be nice to get rid of the guy, I’m told that President Karzai’s response has been: why do you want me to fire someone who’s on your payroll?