I guess we shouldn't be surprised. And it appears to be common knowledge among western diplomats in Kabul:

The bag of money is part of a secret, steady stream of Iranian cash intended to buy the loyalty of Mr. Daudzai and promote Iran's interests in the presidential palace, according to Afghan and Western officials here. Iran uses its influence to help drive a wedge between the Afghans and their American and NATO benefactors, they say.

The payments, which officials say total millions of dollars, form an off-the-books fund that Mr. Daudzai and Mr. Karzai have used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty, the officials said.

"It's basically a presidential slush fund," a Western official in Kabul said of the Iranian-supplied money. "Daudzai's mission is to advance Iranian interests."

The Western and Afghan officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the delicacy of discussing the financial dealings of Mr. Karzai and his aide. The sources said they were motivated by a concern that Mr. Daudzai was helping to poison relations between Mr. Karzai and the United States. Mr. Daudzai and Mr. Karzai both declined to respond to written questions about their relationship with Iran. An aide to Mr. Daudzai dismissed the allegations as "rubbish."

I suppose someone should point out that we are shedding blood in Afghanistan in order to create an independent country. And recent reports make it clear that we're doing a damn fine job at it.

Now we discover our military efforts are being undermined by that crook of a president and his gangster staff. If they want to get in bed with the most evil regime in the world and sell their influence to those backward mullahs in Tehran, maybe we should let him hang himself.

No doubt, Iran will hang them all anyway soon after we leave.