Now Afghanistan has a 'legitimate' President?
An exciting couple of days in Afghan election news. After a nail-biting few weeks of recounts, this weekend the challenger Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the race. Meaning that President Karzai would keep his job for another term.
So, good news right? Now Afghanistan has an uncontested President? Well unfortunately the whole point of the recount was to ensure validity for whomever ended up the victor. And with Abdullah dropping out because “transparent election is not possible” it doesn't seem to lend a lot of credibility to Karzai's win. But don't tell the US, which was already very quick to congratulate Karzai on his win.
The challenges facing stabilizing efforts in Afghanistan unfortunately seem to keep growing with time. I finally had the chance to watch "Obama's War" from Frontline this weekend, and I highly recommend it. It gives you a real sense of the challenges on the ground in Afghanistan's provinces and in Kabul working with Karzai's government. All of the warlords and possible drug smugglers he's surrounded himself with still seem to be around - will the US need to boost legitimacy in spite of Afghanistan's elected President?
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- Obama's stimulus numbers look promising
- Iran on nukes: No deal
- Honduras deal reached - Zelaya to return to power?
- The economy grows again - Champagne time yet?
- The Tamil Tigers and innovations in IEDs
So, good news right? Now Afghanistan has an uncontested President? Well unfortunately the whole point of the recount was to ensure validity for whomever ended up the victor. And with Abdullah dropping out because “transparent election is not possible” it doesn't seem to lend a lot of credibility to Karzai's win. But don't tell the US, which was already very quick to congratulate Karzai on his win.
The challenges facing stabilizing efforts in Afghanistan unfortunately seem to keep growing with time. I finally had the chance to watch "Obama's War" from Frontline this weekend, and I highly recommend it. It gives you a real sense of the challenges on the ground in Afghanistan's provinces and in Kabul working with Karzai's government. All of the warlords and possible drug smugglers he's surrounded himself with still seem to be around - will the US need to boost legitimacy in spite of Afghanistan's elected President?
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- Obama's stimulus numbers look promising
- Iran on nukes: No deal
- Honduras deal reached - Zelaya to return to power?
- The economy grows again - Champagne time yet?
- The Tamil Tigers and innovations in IEDs
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- groups:
- Afghanistan News, news blog
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- tags:
- Obama, Afghanistan, Elections, President Obama, 14 more
