Still a Fraud

21 October 2009



Google
WWW Kensington Review

Karzai Agrees to Run Off for Afghan Presidency

Hamid Karzai has bowed to international pressure and accepted that he was not properly re-elected President of Afghanistan. Indeed, the fraud on his behalf may have been one in every three votes. He now accepts that he didn't surpass the 50% threshold for victory, and he has agreed to a run off against his nearest challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Unfortunately, the damage to any pretense of democracy in Afghanistan has been done, and a long period of instability is in the future regardless of what Afghans or foreigners do.

There is a great deal of fuss being made over Mr. Karzai's decision. The run off on November 7 should beat the snow, should result in a genuine winner (fraud notwithstanding), and give a fig leaf of cover to NATO to stay on in the country. As an example, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said: "President Karzai's statement shows to all that he is a statesman who can decide on what is essential, in the higher interests of his country and of the unity of the Afghan people."

However, the unpleasant fact remains that the Kabul regime is barely able to enforce its edicts within the capital city, let alone the countryside. The Taliban fighters have grabbed about one third of the country, and they have the opium money to keep going. The situation is worse than it was just a few months ago, largely because the Karzai administration has lost whatever credibility it might have had due to the voting fraud.

The second round is unlikely to repair that damage. While some 200 of the 300 plus top election officials have been sacked for their poor performance, there is no guarantee that their successors will do any better. Indeed, with the new balloting just a couple of weeks away, they may not have time to familiarize themselves with their duties. And above all, in a tribal society like Afghanistan, the tribal elders make up many voters minds for them. Ethnic divisions are bad in a modern Western bourgeois democracy; they are far worse in a not-quite democracy.

Amid all of this, the Obama administration is trying to decide whether to send tens of thousands more troops. Secretary of Defense Gates has said the decision cannot wait until the November 7 voting. Reason suggests the White House takes the time to figure out just what regime it is defending before making that call.

The fact remains that Afghanistan is not the kind of place to try nation building. The Karzai regime lacks credibility as an elected entity. And trying to hold mountains against indigenous rebels is folly. America's war aims need to be redefined so that hunting al Qaeda members is the be all and end all of it. Who rules Afghanistan is of no strategic importance whatsoever. Just ask the Soviets.

© Copyright 2009 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home