Time Magazine | By Bobby Ghosh | 28 October 2009

Who’s Who on the CIA Payroll:
A Brief History of CIA Assets

Allegations that Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s brother worked for the CIA are a reminder of a long list of distinguished and not-so-distinguished assets

There was little surprise among Afghanistan experts and longtime CIA watchers at the New York Times report that claimed Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of the Afghan President and alleged drug kingpin, has been paid by the CIA for eight years. Whether or not Karzai fits the bill — and the allegations against him remain unproven — it would come as a surprise if the CIA did not have any number of shady Afghan politicians on its payroll.

The agency has declined comment on the Times story, but Karzai’s CIA connection “has been an open secret in Afghanistan for many years,” says Gretchen Peters, author of Seeds of Terror, an authoritative account of Afghanistan’s opium-terrorism nexus. In Kandahar, the former Taliban stronghold where Karzai is alleged to have helped the agency stand up a local paramilitary, Kandahar Strike Force, that group has long been half-jokingly known by locals as “the CIA’s bastards.” (See pictures of the battle against the Taliban.)

Karzai has not been formally charged with any involvement in drugs, but allegations about his connections to the opium trade — which also helps finance the Taliban and al-Qaeda — are legion. Even if true, they would hardly disqualify him from being a CIA asset. “If you want inside information on shady dealings, you have to deal with shady people,” says Amy Zegart, a UCLA professor and national-security expert. “Nobody should expect to find Boy Scouts on the agency’s payroll.” (Read “Why the CIA Can’t Be Picky About Afghan Partners.”)

Over the years, the CIA has recruited many famous (and infamous) figures for information, cooperation and worse. Sometimes, the association has been rooted in moral or political motivations: during the Cold War, anticommunist revolutionaries made common cause with the agency. Others did it for cold cash. “In a situation where principle and loyalty don’t work, money is sometimes the only tool the CIA [can use] to get cooperation,” says Nick Cullather, a historian of the CIA at Indiana University.

Some CIA assets went on to lead their countries — Vietnamese strongman Ngo Ding Diem, Congolese despot Mobuto Sese Seko and former Chilean President Eduardo Frei. German Chancellor (and Nobel Peace laureate) Willy Brandt and Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai spent the twilight of their careers having to deny allegations that they had been on the agency’s payroll.

The CIA never confirms the identity of a covert asset, but herewith a list of some of the more notable figures previously alleged to have been linked to the agency:

John Roselli

In the 1960s, the agency is alleged to have roped in many Mafia figures to help topple Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. Roselli, known as “Handsome Johnny,” was the most flamboyant among them. Recruited to assassinate Castro, he in turn brought in Chicago mobster Sam Giancana and New Orleans boss Santo Trafficante. Roselli tried to have Castro poisoned, and later, shot. Some conspiracy theorists also link him to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. But he took his secrets to the grave, having been murdered in 1976, his body found in an oil drum floating off the coast of Miami.See pictures of intimate moments with the Kennedys.

Ngo Dinh Nhu

Like Ahmed Wali Karzai, Nhu was the much reviled brother of an unpopular President, Diem. (He had two other brothers: one was an Archbishop, and the other ruled the central provinces of South Vietnam.) The CIA is alleged to have helped Nhu set up the Vietnamese special forces, which were dedicated mainly to preserving the brothers’ rule. Known by their acronym ARVN, these forces built a reputation for torture, repression (especially against the country’s Buddhists) and corruption. In time, the U.S. came to regard Nhu as a liability to American interests in South Vietnam and cut off aid to the ARVN. Nhu and Diem were assassinated in the 1963 coup that had the tacit support of the U.S.

General Dan Van Quang

There are parallels with Ahmed Wali Karzai here too. Quang, special military adviser to President Nguyen Van Thieu, was widely believed to have been a heroin trafficker. This led to considerable friction between the CIA, which valued Quang as an asset, and the U.S. military, which saw him as a crook. Quang moved to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon; after a trip to Canada in 1975, he was barred from returning to the U.S. until 1989, when the State Department cleared him of all drug charges.See the top 10 Secret Service code names.

Thubten Jigme Norbu

Another brother of a famous figure, but without the unsavory associations, Norbu was the oldest sibling of the Dalai Lama. He first worked for the CIA as a translator, and in the 1960s, he helped the agency’s efforts to arm Tibetan guerrillas fighting against Chinese rule. Last year, the Dalai Lama acknowledged that his organization funneled millions of dollars in CIA funding to a Tibetan paramilitary group.

See pictures of the Dalai Lama.

King Hussein of Jordan

During his 46-year rule, the Hashemite monarch was frequently accused by his enemies — Israeli and Arab alike — of being a CIA stooge. The agency became his paymaster in 1957, inheriting that role from the British: Hussein received $1 million a year until 1977, when President Carter ended the payments.

See pictures of Israeli soldiers sweeping into Gaza.

Manuel Noriega

Perhaps the most infamous CIA asset of them all was the former dictator of Panama, now in jail in Miami for drug-trafficking, money-laundering and racketeering. He had agency connections going back to the 1950s, but the relationship solidified in the 1970s, when he was on the payroll. Upon taking power, he allowed the U.S. to set up listening posts in Panama and is believed to have served as a conduit for U.S. funds to Nicaraguan contra rebels fighting the leftist Sandinista government. The U.S. looked the other way as Noriega established what would be described as a “narco-kleptocracy,” but the relationship eventually soured and the U.S. invasion of 1989 ended his rule.

See pictures of Culiacán, the home of Mexico’s drug-trafficking industry.