Comments on: Abdullah to Boycott Runoff as Talks Break Down

By: Why All the President’s Afghan Options Are Bad Ones « Fabius Maximus

Why All the President’s Afghan Options Are Bad Ones « Fabius Maximus — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:03:30 +0000

[...] round of voting slated for November 7th and likely only to compound the initial injury. No matter the result – and Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai’s opponent, has already withdrawn in protest from the [...]

By: Sinking Deeper in the Quagmire: Is Obama a Stand-in for Dubya’s Third Term? | America at War

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:35:49 +0000

[...] second round of voting slated for Nov. 7 and likely only to compound the initial injury. No matter the result – and Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai’s opponent, has already withdrawn in protest from the runoff [...]

By: Too Big to Fail? By Tom Engelhardt « Kanan48

Too Big to Fail? By Tom Engelhardt « Kanan48 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:45:15 +0000

[...] round of voting slated for November 7th and likely only to compound the initial injury. No matter the result — and Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai’s opponent, has already withdrawn in protest from the [...]

By: joell

joell — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:14:47 +0000

its time to stop this nonsense about the Afgan "government, elections, President Karzi" etc. on one level, we all know its a sham, but read and discuss these articles as if they're about a real government. Since the 2001 invasion. Afgan has had two presidents, George W. Bush and now Obama; the Afgan "government" is nothing but theater & illusions.

By: @cahotek

@cahotek — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:03:53 +0000

This sounds like a prelude to the kind of argument that got Saddam Hussein into power "It takes a strong man to rule such unruly people and unite the tribes into a National Government." I suspect the answer will be "But he's our Saddam Hussein.

By: m70270

m70270 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:35:02 +0000

It makes little or no difference who is the president of a country under foreign occupation. Do we expect the world to honestly believe that a "runoff" is the key to a democratic institution? The current and future president of Afghanistan resides in Washington.

And just a brief comment about Karzai's rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Were he to persevere in a highly touted runoff, the next real president of Afghanistan would reside in Moscow or Tehran or perhaps Delhi or even all three. Abdullah has long ties to the former KGB and GRU and the contemporary incarnation, the FSV, supporting them during the Soviet occupation. He has also been on the receiving end of Iran's and India's largesse which facilitates much concern in Islamabad who fear the loss of "strategic depth" with a pro-Moscow-Tehran-Delhi nexus. He, like his then boss, Ahmad Shah Massoud was on the Soviet payroll all during the war with the USSR and is seen as Afghanistan's most notorious Quisling.

By: guest

guest — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:12:16 +0000

which is why I'm hoping Abdullah boycotts the runoff – that'd be just one more obstacle in the way of Obama escalating this war.

By: Anand

Anand — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:19:34 +0000

Karzai’s stnd indicates that he knows that he stands no chance of winning in a fair and free election. In any event, the person who should do the worrying is US President Barack Obama, given that he needs a credible government in Kabul as partner.