Today, Barack Obama and the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met to discuss several issues, amid whispers and speculation that the United States will up its troop levels in Afghanistan. This idea has come under renewed scrutiny from the American public as the legitimacy of the Afghanistan election has become even more questionable.
Currently there are 68,000 American troops in Afghanistan, and August was the deadliest month yet, with 51 killed. With incumbent Hamid Karzai receiving 54% of the vote, there have been multiple accusations of fraud in Afghanistan. European Union election observers have estimated that as many as 1.5 million ballots may be fraudulent. Over 1 million of those ballots have been cast for Karzai, and over three hundred thousand for top challenger Abdullah. Afghanistan's Independant Election Commitee called the EU's assessment irresponsible.
So what is the strategy in Afghanistan? Many Afghanis are already losing faith in the government over corruption issues, and that is only giving the Taliban more power. Even though many votes could be thrown out, a second round of voting would only lead to an ethnic divide inside Afghanistan. So should the coalition support Karzai and endorse the results of a rigged election, or demand a re-vote and risk even more violence? Should we throw our hands up and leave, as the Canadians and other nations are considering? Will that lead to an Al-Qeada supported government, and can we even be bothered to destroy any potential safe havens in the first place? We have wasted eight years in Afghanistan. Have we squandered our opportunity? With all these questions, can we be asked to spend more American blood and treasure? The only thing that everyone is in agreement on is that the status quo is unacceptable.
1 comment:
We should throw up our hands, write off all the already lost lives as the result and consequences of a stupid, revenge-driven decision, and get the HELL out of there. There are other Al-Quaeda havens in Somalia and Yemen, and lots of other places. We can't police them all. We can police our own borders, and have some protection that way, but we need to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq. War benefits only the war-profiteers like Haliburton and Blackwater. Everyone else loses. We could have healthcare for the entire nation, and free college tuition for everyone for the money we're wasting on these misadventures.
Post a Comment