News
Email
Print
U.S. hails Karzai win
Obama should now decide about troop level, Boehner says
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 3, 2009
KABUL - Hamid Karzai was declared the winner by default yesterday in Afghanistan's fraud-marred presidential election, increasing the pressure on President Obama to end his marathon deliberations at a time when a scaled-down version of his commander's ambitious plans is gaining support.
Obama welcomed Karzai's election with as much admonishment as praise, telling America's partner in war that he expects a more serious effort to end corruption in his government and ready his nation to defend itself when international troops ultimately withdraw.
"I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter," Obama said in describing his congratulatory phone call to Karzai.
Obama said that when Karzai offered back assurances, Obama told him that "the proof is not going to be in words. It's going to be in deeds."
Afghan politicians with ties to Karzai said they expected him to try to restore credibility abroad by offering Cabinet posts to supporters of his chief rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.
But Obama's words appeared to be a sharp warning to Karzai that the American public would not support a significant increase in resources unless it is satisfied that a credible Afghan government is fully committed to tackling the problems of corruption and bad governance that have swelled insurgent ranks.
The messy end to the election left the United States and its partners with the difficult task of helping the Karzai government restore legitimacy both at home and abroad.
Public support for the war is already dropping in the U.S. and other countries with troops in Afghanistan. The image of a fraud-stained Afghan partner does little to reverse the slide.
Karzai was declared the winner one day after Abdullah dropped out of the scheduled Nov. 7 runoff. Abdullah said that the election would not have been fair and accused the Karzai-appointed Independent Election Commission of bias.
The election now decided, House Republican leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that Obama has no reason to wait any longer to decide whether to accept recommendations by his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for up to 80,000 more troops.
"The White House has no further pretext for delaying the decision on giving Gen. McChrystal the resources he needs," Boehner said.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged that Karzai's win is a factor in the coming decision but did not say that the timetable for an announcement has changed.
"I think the decision ... still will be made in the coming weeks," Gibbs said.
Obama is considering several options to increase the number of troops fighting in Afghanistan, including Gen. Stanley McChrystal's preference of about 40,000 additional U.S. forces next year.
U.S. officials have said that a scaled-down version of that request is gaining favor but that no final decision has been made.
Adding fewer forces than McChrystal really wants at the outset could give the administration additional flexibility later, officials have said.
The option carries political risks, however, since Democrats weary of the war will rue any increase in the U.S. fighting force, and giving McChrystal less than full measure opens the White House to criticism from the right that it is undercutting U.S. troops.
Abdullah's decision to withdraw from the runoff brought huge relief to organizers who were scrambling to hold the election before the onset of Afghanistan's harsh winter. Afghan and international officials feared a wave of bloody violence on polling day after the Taliban threatened attacks against anyone who took part.
Karzai initially won a majority of votes in the first-round balloting last August. But fraud investigators threw out nearly a third of his votes, dropping him below the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright. Under intense U.S. pressure, he reluctantly agreed to accept those findings and agree to a runoff.
In Washington, two U.S. officials involved in the strategy discussions said that a flawed second round would have left Karzai with even less credibility. Abdullah's move to highlight fraud charges puts pressure on Karzai to move vigorously to combat corruption. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not announced his decision on strategy and troops.
"We're prepared to work with this partner, who was elected according to Afghan laws in an election that was conducted by Afghan institutions, and we have a big stake in Afghanistan," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.
"The international community has a big stake in Afghanistan, and we stand ready to support them as they go forward."
Email
Print
