The Defense Minister's Son, The CIA Guy, And Their U.S. Lobby Group

By Steve Hynd

I was interested to see Gareth Porter mention Hamid Wardak, the son of Defence Minister Rahim Wardak, as allegedly running an unregistered security force with a U.S. military contract in his piece I cited earlier today. I'd come across the younger Wardak in a rather different context recently too, you see. One that points to a considerable potential conflict of interest as well as another CIA connection to go with the one between Hamid Karzai's brother Ahmed Wali and the Agency that the NY Times reported on the other day.

Hamid Wardak is listed as one of the board members of a new pressure group, the Campaign for a U.S.-Afghanistan Partnership (“CUSAP”) which describes itself as "a membership organization of U.S. and Afghan citizens". 

CUSAP has already been quite active in D.C., employing lobbyists Patton Boggs LLP to make their case that "Afghanistan, through a long-term partnership with the United States, can become a strong, prospering nation." It's main lobbyist, Nicholas W.Allard, is a well-connected D.C. insider - he was previously chief of staff to Senator Pat Moynihan. According to OpenSecrets.Org, CUSAP has already spent $190,000 on lobbying in its short existence but, oddly, there's no physical address for given on its website - and its published paper apparently refers enquiries to junior lobbyists at Patton Boggs.

Perhaps that apparent penchant for secrecy comes from Wardak's colleague at CUSAP,the co-founder Milt Bearden. He retired from the CIA in 1994, but before that he was the man responsible for Operation Cyclone - the program to arm the mujahedeen during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Wardak and Bearden knew each other already, though. Hamid Wardak is also CEO and President of a company called NCL Holdings. On the company website, NHL Holdings describe their business:

"NCL has been tasked to provide all resources including logistics support and management necessary to provide transportation support for the secure long haul distribution of reconstruction, security, and life support assets from Forward Operating Bases (FOB) and distribution sites located throughout the Afghanistan Theater of Operations."

Bearden is listed as being on the advisory board of NCL Holdings. As is Elliot F Gearsen, Finance Director for the Joe Lieberman for President Campaign 2004. Those are the only two advisors.

The business connection between the Afghan defense minister's son and an ex-CIA man who armed the mujahedeen is interesting, given the NYT's report about Karzai's brother, especially since a scholarly report seems to have identified Hamid Wardak as allegedly one of the warlords running unregistered security forces that the U.S. has to deal with. But it might be purely coincidental, signifying nothing untoward.

However, that the defense minister's son and the ex-CIA guy are involved in a business that makes lots of money from the U.S. military's continued presence in Afghanistan while simultaneously running a camapign to boost for a continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan - and spending pots of money on lobbyists under that campaign's banner - might well be construed as a major conflict of interest.