Afghan Election Talks Break Down

Abdullah Abdullah Presidential candidate discussing second round
run-off in his home in Kabul. Photo: Dadid Gill

From CNN:

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his election opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, have broken down, a Western source close to the Afghan leadership told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday.

According to the source, Abdullah will likely announce this weekend that he will boycott the runoff presidential election slated for November 7, a runoff that had been scheduled after intense diplomatic arm twisting by the United States.

Read more ....

More News On The Breakdown Of Election Talks

Abdullah may pull out of Afghan runoff -- AP
Afghan Runoff Hits Rocks; Challenger May Boycott -- NPR
Rumours grow that Abdullah will quit election -- The Independent
Karzai opponent set to boycott presidential election re-run -- Times Online
Abdullah Abdullah considers pulling out of Afghan election -- The Telegraph
Afghanistan’s Election Runoff: Disaster in the Making? -- The Danger Room

Is The White House Laying The Groundwork To Get Rid Of President Karzai?

Ahmed Wali Karzai, right, the brother of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, at a campaign event in Kandahar in August. Banaras Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.

The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is well known that President Obama's administration has no love for President Karzai, and they are blaming him for many of the problems in Afghanistan. President Karzai has also been critical of the U.S., more so since President Obama has assumed the office.

Do both men and Governments see eye to eye .... definitely not. But with this story in the New York Times .... probably leaked to them by the White House .... this animosity is reaching a new and different level.

The Karzai brothers understand where this is going, and have vehemently condemned the New York Times story. They understand that this is a ploy to effect next weeks elections, and to undermine their legitimacy. They also know who is pushing this story, and it is not the New York Times.

From my point of view, this affair illustrates the problems and difficulties that we have in trying to have an impact on Afghanistan. We must deal with people that under normal circumstances we try our best to avoid, and we are making compromises with people and situations that only heighten our sense of uncertainty and fear of failure.

Is there a way out .... I can only hope that when President Obama announces America's new strategy for Afghanistan in the next few weeks, an inkling on what are our goals and strategy will then be made more clearer.

Afghanistan's Election Results Is Turning Into One Big Mess

Afghan president Hamid Karzai holds up his inked-stained finger after voting in the presidential election in Kabul on 20 August. Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Audit Pushes Karzai Below 50 Percent in Afghan Vote -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s political crisis deepened on Monday, with President Hamid Karzai hesitating to accept an international audit that stripped him of nearly a million votes, requiring a runoff with his top challenger.

A panel of United Nations-appointed experts issued findings for the first time on Monday showing that the fraud was so pervasive that Mr. Karzai had not won the Aug. 20 election outright, according to foreign and Afghan officials in the capital, Kabul.

Read more ....

More News On the Afghan Fraud Panel's Ruling On The Afghanistan Election

Hamid Karzai refuses to accept being stripped of Afghanistan election win -- The Telegraph
Nearly a third of Afghan president's votes voided -- Yahoo News/AP
Afghan poll picture darkens with run-off looming -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Fraud Panel Throws Out Votes in Afghan Election -- Voice of America
Many Afghan Ballot Boxes Voided, Setting Stage for Runoff -- Wall Street Journal
Leaders urge Karzai to accept fraud report on Afghanistan election -- The Guardian
Afghan Panel Scraps Votes, Making Karzai Win Unsure -- Bloomberg
Sacked US diplomat says Afghan fraud even worse -- AFP

BREAKING!!! Karzai Wins Afghan Election With 54% Of The Vote ..... But .....

A representative of Afghan President Hamid Karzai watched as election workers entered data into computers at the election result tally center of the Independent Election Commission office in Kabul on Tuesday. Manish Swarup/Associated Press

Panel Orders Recount as Tally Gives Karzai 54% -- New York Times

The United Nations-backed commission serving as the ultimate arbiter of the Afghan elections announced Tuesday that it had found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” in a number of polling stations, ordering a partial recount even as election officials declared President Hamid Karzai the winner of the preliminary count.

With 91.6 percent of the votes cast, they said, Mr. Karzai had won 54.1 percent of the vote. The tally, if certified, would mean that Mr. Karzai would be declared the victor without need for a runoff.

Read more ....

My Comment: What good is an election result when charges of large scale fraud are leveled. I am sure that something is now going to be put together to present and spin how proper and positive this election was .... I am also equally sure that in the eyes of many Afghans this is not going to work and that President Karzai is an illegitimate President.

We now have the worse of all possible worlds.

Afghanistan Goes To The Polls Today -- News Updates August 20, 2009

Latest Updates On Afghanistan’s Election -- The New York Times

To supplement the main news article on Thursday’s elections in Afghanistan, which is being written and updated throughout the day by Carlotta Gall in Kabul with input from New York Times reporters around the country, the At War blog will be rounding up coverage of the election on other Web sites today. We will also be bringing readers news from various polling stations submitted to us by our colleagues in the field. Readers who are in Afghanistan are invited to share their experiences of the day with us.

Read more ....

More News On Afghanistan

Polls close and counting begins in Afghanistan -- Yahoo News/AP
Afghan voting extended as attacks dampen turnout -- Yahoo News/AP
Afghanistan extends voting by 1 hour -- Washington Times
Afghans vote despite sporadic violence -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Afghanistan votes for president -- Yahoo News/AFP
Afghan election: security by region -- BBC
Light Turnout, Some Violence As Afghans Vote -- NPR
Violence appears to keep some Afghans from voting -- L.A. Times
Afghanistan election: rockets fired as voting begins -- Times Online
Afghans in Kabul brush aside jitters to cast ballots -- L.A. Times
ELECTION NOTEBOOK-Developments from Afghanistan, Aug. 20 -- Reuters
As Afghan Polls Open, Contest for Presidency Tightens -- New York Times
Taliban Attacks Set Stage for a Tense Afghan Vote -- Wall Street Journal
Afghans Vote Amid War -- Wall Street Journal
Heavy clashes mar Afghanistan poll -- APA