Can we please have an Afghanistan reality check? President Hamid Karzai stole the first election, with one out of every three votes being fraudulent. Abdullah Abdullah, who finished second and was supposed to be Karzai's opponent in the run-off, withdrew because the same election commission, all Karzai appointees, was poised to steal the run-off as well.
Following Abdullah's pullout, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters: "President Karzai has been declared the winner of the Afghan election... So obviously he's the legitimate leader of the country."
Secretary of State Clinton said on Saturday: "We see that happen in our own country where, for whatever combination of reasons, one of the candidates decides not to go forward. I don't think it has anything to do with the legitimacy of the election. It's a personal choice which may or may not be made."
President Obama "placed a congratulatory call in which he asked for a "new chapter" in the legitimacy of the Afghan government.
The administration wants Mr. Karzai and the Afghan government to put into place an anti-corruption commission to establish strict accountability for government officials at the national and provincial levels, senior administration officials said Monday."
Right. The Obama administration "wants" an anti-corruption commission from Karzai, who just "won" re-election through rampant fraud and corruption, whose brother is allegedly a major player in Afghanistan's illegal opium trade, and whose running mate, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, is also a suspected drug trafficker.
And I want a winning lottery ticket and a date with Megan Fox.
At the news conference after being declared the "winner" Karzai made this rock-solid pledge: "Our government has been seriously discredited by administrative corruption. We will try to remove this stigma from our soil and our country in any possible way."
That's the fantasy, now the reality. Listen to former Marine captain and State Department official Matthew Hoh, who recently resigned in opposition to our Afghanistan policy.
"We are fighting people who are fighting us only because we are occupying them or because we are supporting a central government that they view as occupying them."
I hope President Obama is listening.
Following Abdullah's pullout, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters: "President Karzai has been declared the winner of the Afghan election... So obviously he's the legitimate leader of the country."
Secretary of State Clinton said on Saturday: "We see that happen in our own country where, for whatever combination of reasons, one of the candidates decides not to go forward. I don't think it has anything to do with the legitimacy of the election. It's a personal choice which may or may not be made."
President Obama "placed a congratulatory call in which he asked for a "new chapter" in the legitimacy of the Afghan government.
The administration wants Mr. Karzai and the Afghan government to put into place an anti-corruption commission to establish strict accountability for government officials at the national and provincial levels, senior administration officials said Monday."
Right. The Obama administration "wants" an anti-corruption commission from Karzai, who just "won" re-election through rampant fraud and corruption, whose brother is allegedly a major player in Afghanistan's illegal opium trade, and whose running mate, Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, is also a suspected drug trafficker.
And I want a winning lottery ticket and a date with Megan Fox.
At the news conference after being declared the "winner" Karzai made this rock-solid pledge: "Our government has been seriously discredited by administrative corruption. We will try to remove this stigma from our soil and our country in any possible way."
That's the fantasy, now the reality. Listen to former Marine captain and State Department official Matthew Hoh, who recently resigned in opposition to our Afghanistan policy.
"We are fighting people who are fighting us only because we are occupying them or because we are supporting a central government that they view as occupying them."
I hope President Obama is listening.
Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Indo-Pakistan region of southern Asia, East Africa.........when are we gonna wake up and realize these parts of the world CAN NOT be fixed. You can't install a democracy that will last. You can't do anything about the abject poverty,the systemic political corruption, nor the "tattered and hangin' by a thread" social fabric. We'd have more success trying to open up a tennis camp in Antarctica. Grass courts.
Don't get me wrong. I agree with you. Get out. Get out now. Don't pass "Go" and don't scale down the occupation. Leave a small contingency to defend Kabul only.
But, is that the right thing to do? Is it the moral thing to do? Is it the politically correct thing to do? Probably not. But it's the SMART thing to do.
Another opportunity for real change has passed by, no thanks to the Obama administration. This sounds exactly like what George W. Bush would have done. Color me sadly disappointed.
Karzai and the Afghan government are blatantly corrupt. He will "try" and investigate corruption and pass some laws? C'mon. I am against this wasted fighting at the loss of American lives, for what? Karzai is a drug dealing thug so I'm confused why Obama would call and congratulate him on his joke of a re-election? Wake up and smell the coffee, get out of Afghanistan, it's a sinking ship!!!
The reality check is that we went there with one mission: find Al Queda and destroy them. That was the mission folks. Now, the mission involves the Taliban, the legitimacy of the government, winning hearts and minds, and probably winning the lacrosse tournament next Saturday.
Americans in 2001 didn't care about the Taliban. They didn't care about Abdulah Abdulah or anyone else. They cared about Osama Bin Laden and the rest of Al Queda. Period. That was Bush's mandate, but like the jackass his VP is, they had to expand the conflict to multiple countries and multiple objectives. It is time to either finish the original job or get out.
I agree that it’s a no-win situation. I disagree that there’s nothing we can do.
Let’s go back to the Johnson/Vietnam comparison. In 1965 he realized it was a no-win, 8 years and 50,000 caskets later we left. We’ve been down this road before, the question is do we learn from our mistakes or do we repeat them.
The right and moral thing to do is to not sacrifice the lives of our soldiers for the sake of not wanting to appear weak in support of a government that we know to be corrupt. To hell with what’s politically correct.
Has the neocon crowd yet denounced Karzai for election fraud like they did with Ahmedinejah in Iran?
*sigh* carguy, you are probably correct but it is still wrong.
Ladies...ladies.
I agree that this "lip service" is, indeed, BS. Obama and Clinton have both dissappointed me too. But what could they do. Afghanistan is just ONE BIG "no win" mess. We couldn't "call it like it is" and risk alienating what few friends we have over there. I REALLY hate to say this, but,at this point, I think they HAD to do this.
There is absolutely, NOTHING we can do about Afghanistan that is BOTH right, moral, and politically correct and effective.
We have truly accomplished the "impossible".
We have exported "American Brand Democracy" to Afghanistan -- complete with "rigged" elections.
I guess not only do "you go to war with the Army you have" according to Rumsfeld --- but "you deal with the corrupt government you have" --- according to President Obama.
We have occasionally used the term "drink the Kool-Aid". It seems that our current administration brewed it, drank it and has toasted Karzai with it. What the hell is wrong with our country ?
This is so wrong on so many levels! Why do we back corrupt leaders in other countries? Did we learn nothing from Saddam Hussain and the others over the years.
Someone needs to smack some sense into our administration and stop this incredible bullcrap!