angry rant

when the hypocrisy of america's afghan war was revealed on the news with reports of a major drug lord being on the CIA payroll, CNN managed to offend me in so many different ways it deserves its own rant.
1) the agent defending the CIA against these claims said that in a country like afghanistan, where "there are no roads and stuff", the drug trade is basically the only way to make money (so it's okay for american intelligence to support it).
2) when asked about all the people who are killed due to the direct and indirect consequences of an opium trade that fuels militancy, he replied that there are "good guys" and "bad guys", with no explanation or direct answer to the question. if people aren't already adept at recognizing propaganda, the use of "good guys and bad guys" should really alert them to it.
3) when asked if this is a conflict of interests for the benign USA, whose mission is to bring democracy and rule of law (and "roads and stuff", i'm sure), we were told not really, because after all, drugs are helping some "good guys" make money too.

to make it all worse, this story was followed up by the tragic gang rape of a high school student in california. the discussion surrounding that was depressing. why is the focus always on faulty surveillance cameras rather than why there is such rampant sexual violence in a country that prides itself on women's rights? why is there not more of an outcry about the objectification of women, or the readily available use of weapons, rather than about why the parent-chaperones weren't patrolling the grounds constantly? you would think that an educated, free media would attempt to focus on the truth rather than supporting bombing for feminism in afghanistan.