US goofs the Afghan election

[bemildred]

Abdullah Abdullah's refusal to take part in the Afghan presidential election runoff on November 7 is a watershed event. From his point of view, the former foreign minister did the sensible thing, having carefully assessed he had no stake whatsoever in a runoff that he had zero chance of winning.

President Hamid Karzai has also shown the door to Abdullah's Western sponsors. They had approached in hopes of gaining a last-minute "deal" that would see Abdullah, their protege, gain some position in the future administration. Abdullah saw that from this point onward, the law of diminishing returns would be at work if he kept pecking at Karzai.

Karzai estimated that Abdullah would be a thorn in the flesh - or worse still, a Trojan horse for the Western powers; having him in the government in any serious capacity would result only in Karzai spending sleepless nights at the presidential palace.

In any case, Karzai calculated that Abdullah had already inflicted the maximum damage possible by lending his services to the president's Western detractors. Karzai also knows that he will continue to enjoy strong support from within the major non-Pashtun groups as long as his partnership with erstwhile mujahideen leaders Mohammed Fahim, Karim Khalili, Ismail Khan, Rashid Dostum and Mohammed Mohaqiq remains intact.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KK03Df04.html

[nightrain]

1. let's hope Obama and Clinton get the lessons, and leave Afghanistan soon.

[bemildred]

2. I am not at all optimistic.

US Foreign Policy elites in general are slow learners.

[bemildred]

3. U.S. Congratulates Karzai on Winning Second Term

KABUL -- The United States and its allies have congratulated President Hamid Karzai on winning a second term following a proclamation by the country's election commission.

The Monday ruling ends a two-and-a-half month ordeal wrought with fraud, back-room negotiations and worries that the Afghan government might never regain credibility.

The U.S. embassy said in a statement that it looked forward to working with Karzai to support reform and improve security.

The statement said the commission's decision, made after Karzai's lone challenger withdrew, was "according to its mandate under Afghan law."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/02/congratulates-karzai-winning-second-term/

[dhpgetsit]

4. If the Afghan government has no legitimacy there is nothing to be gained by supporting it.

We need to suspend all operations and prepare for a withdrawal.