The Spectacle Blog
Today, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted a run-off election on November 7th after a UN panel found around one million of his votes from the August election to be invalid. Under this scheme, Karzai will face his challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, because he was found after the review to have less than the necessary 50 percent of the vote in the first round. A run-off or power-sharing arrangement was believed to be necessary due to Karzai’s dubious credibility.
President Obama claimed a political victory and praised Karzai:
“President Karzai and the other candidates have shown that they have the interests of the Afghan people at heart.”
I am speculating, but I wonder if there might have been another motive besides having the hearts of the Afghan people in mind while agreeing to such an early election. The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan, which announced that date, “consists of nine members, including a chairperson and a deputy chairperson, appointed by Presidential Decree.”
Abdullah rallied from single-digit support early in the summer to gain 32% of the vote in the August round. Abdullah’s stock seems to be rising, while Karzai’s is dwindling amid corruption allegations not limited to this election. Moreover, it would seem extremely difficult to root out all the corruption that happened in the August election in a little over two weeks in a country with very little resources or roads to speak of and plenty of local warlords appointed by Karzai. In three weeks, we will very likely be discussing the widespread corruption in the run-off and be left with little options for pursuing a legitimate government that can fight the Taliban.
This rush to action seems comparable to a football game where the quarterback is trying to snap the ball before the defense is on the field so that the offense can score before the defense is ready. This looks like a desperate move to seize and retain power before an effective election can take place, yet President Obama is publicly praising Karzai’s heart.
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Martin| 10.20.09 @ 4:33PM
I hold no brief for Karzai, except that the State Department seem to hate him so he's probably an OK Guy.
nevertheless you have to remember that there wasn't just election fraud going on in Karzai's home region in the south. The Taliban were also blowing up polling stations, because NATO didn't have enough troops to protect them. Seems to me, if polling stations in your home region are being blown up, it's probably reasonable to fabricate a few votes to make up.
US should get out of Afghanistan, it's impossible terrain and the gains to US interests are just not worth it. But it would be good if we left Karzai securely in charge, with a good supply of equipment, while doing so. He's the nearest to an ally we have.
John - TMF| 10.20.09 @ 5:51PM
The irony of The One Regime whining on about corrupt elections is just too much to take.
Maybe all this would have gone away if Karazai had hired ACORN and Axelrod to run his campaign.
Gee if he had done that, then next week Karazai would be grabbing a gnosh in the Senate Cafeteria with Al Franken.
The rot of Democrat hypocrisy is what's causing global warming.
Chicago! Chicago! That toddlin' town.....
:-/
The Mighty Fahvaag
Jonno| 10.20.09 @ 6:35PM
Karzai needs ACORN!
Tish | 10.20.09 @ 9:40PM
The only solution Obama is searching for is one which allows him to escape blame and claim success. Karzai can now be used as a scapegoat, allowing Obama to ignore his military commanders if he chooses.
SoCon| 10.21.09 @ 12:22AM
Won't work, Tish: If Obama loses this war it will destroy his presidency and the democrat party, too.
He knows it.
Pingback| 10.21.09 @ 1:16PM
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Is Karzai Duping Obama? - Pasarici.NET Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.21.09 @ 3:08PM
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : Is Karzai Duping Obama? : PlanetTalk.net - Lea links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
metakid| 10.23.09 @ 3:04PM
I do think that the runoff will help establish a legit government, though I think there are some serious questions to be asked. http://www.newsy.com/videos/el.....id_karzai. I read somewhere that Gibbs is saying one thing and Emmanuel is saying something else, totally contradicting what the WH's stand on this.