They're muzzies. Everything is corrupt in muzzieland. On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 4:17 AM, "Lone Wolf" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > A corrupt election in Afghanistan > 10 August 2009 > > It is widely acknowledged that the August 20 presidential election in > Afghanistan will be characterised by vote-rigging and the bribing or > intimidation of voters in the areas under US/NATO control. In the > ethnic Pashtun southern provinces where the Taliban-led insurgency, > which has called for a boycott, is most active, it is predicted that > there will be mass abstention. The result will not be credible and the > new government will lack any legitimacy. > > The head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Abdul > Qader Nurzai, told the New York Times earlier this month that he > expects a turnout of less than 30 percent in the south. Pointing to > the potential scale of the rigging, an anonymous Afghan electoral > observer estimated that there are over 3 million duplicate voter > registration cards in circulation, or close to 20 percent of the total > of 17 million. > > Richard Holbrooke, the Obama’s administration’s special envoy, > admitted while in Afghanistan in late July: “We are worried about > voter registration fraud, and we are worried about voters who will be > unable to reach polling places because of insecurity, and we are > worried about the accuracy of the vote count, and we are worried about > the ability of women to vote.” > > The British ambassador to Afghanistan, Mark Sewell, told a press > conference on August 5, “We have to recognise that these elections > won’t be perfect, they won’t be up to the standards that they would be > in a Western democracy with an educated population.” > > The current president, Hamid Karzai, is predicted to win the > “imperfect” election—possibly with more than 50 percent of the vote, > which will rule out a second round run-off ballot. > > Karzai is supported by various ethnic-based powerbrokers who backed > the US invasion and as a result returned to political prominence. Over > the past seven years, under the protection of US and NATO occupation > forces, they have once again transformed the north and west of the > country into their personal fiefdoms. > > Karzai’s campaign is supported by a veritable rogue’s gallery of the > warlords and tyrants who plunged Afghanistan into years of brutal > civil war from 1992 to 1996, before they were driven from power by a > Taliban-led insurgency. > > Karzai’s two vice-presidential running mates are Tajik strongman > Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Hazari powerbroker Karim Khalili. Karzai has > been endorsed by Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. All three are > accused of war crimes in the 1990s and effectively control the local > governments, police, Afghan army units and electoral officials in > their respective spheres of influence. > > Karzai is also backed by anti-Taliban Pashtun warlord Abdul Rab > Rassoul Sayyaf, a fanatical Islamist who was accused of “repeated > human butchery” during the civil war. He has also been endorsed by Gul > Agha Sherzai, a Pashtun powerbroker whose brutal rule over Kandahar > from 1992 to 1994 was a significant factor in fostering support for > the Taliban. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation accused him in > June of being one of the country’s main drug barons. > > Elsewhere, in the areas of the Pashtun south under occupation control, > Karzai’s campaign has rested on money and power that stems from the > network of family and tribal connections he has developed since 2001. > > Karzai’s elder brother, Mahmoud, a US citizen, is now the richest man > in Afghanistan as a result of the nepotistic contracts awarded to his > businesses. He has been given ownership of the only cement factory in > the country and distribution rights for Toyota vehicles. Another > brother, Ahmed Wali, has allegedly financed his major business > operations and land holdings in Kandahar province through the opium > trade. > > With a mixture of intimidation and bribery to ensure his victory over > 40 other candidates, Karzai has not bothered to take part in the few > televised debates screened on Afghan television. He also can rely on a > thoroughly subservient media. The state-owned newspapers have devoted > 69 percent of their election coverage to Karzai and just 14 percent to > his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah. > > A Western intelligence official told Elizabeth Rubin of the New York > Times magazine: “The Karzai family has opium and blood on their hands. > They systematically install low-level officials up to provincial > governors to make sure that, from the farm gate, the opium is moved > unfettered. When history analyses this period and looks at this > family, it will uncover a litany of extensive corruption that was > tolerated because the West tolerated this family.” > > This is the man who has been presented internationally as the symbol > of the “democracy” being forged by the US and NATO in Afghanistan. > > In recent months, US and NATO politicians, analysts and military > commanders have voiced concerns that the corrupt character of the > Kabul government has become a major factor in the growth of the > Taliban-led insurgency. Millions of Afghans correctly view Karzai as a > puppet of the imperialist powers that are attempting to impose neo- > colonial rule over the country. > > Given the growing criticisms of Karzai, it is entirely possible that > the Obama administration will decide to dispense altogether with the > pretence of creating democracy in Afghanistan and impose some type of > “interim government.” > > Statements last week by David Kilcullen, the counter-insurgency > advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, who has now been appointed > as an aide to Afghanistan commander General Stanley McChrystal, point > in that direction. He compared Karzai with South Vietnamese President > Ngo Dinh Diem, whom the Kennedy administration had removed from power > and murdered in 1963 in a US-backed military coup. > > Kilcullen told the US Institute of Peace: “He [Karzai] is seen as > ineffective; his family are corrupt; he’s alienated a very substantial > portion of the population. He seems paranoid and delusional and out of > touch with reality. That’s all the sort of things that were said about > President Diem in 1963.” > > The corrupt character of the Afghan election, and Kilcullen’s veiled > suggestion of a post-ballot coup, serve only to demonstrate that the > official justifications for the Afghan war are cynical and threadbare > lies. > > American and NATO troops are not killing and dying in ever greater > numbers for “democracy” or to prevent terrorism. Like Vietnam, the > Afghan war is a neo-colonial enterprise. Its aim is to secure > Afghanistan as a base of operations for the growing great power > struggle for economic and strategic dominance in resource-rich Central > Asia. > > The neo-colonial war in the region has the potential to trigger open > conflict between US imperialism and rivals such as Russia and China > which have far greater military capacities than poorly armed Afghan > tribesmen. > > James Cogan > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
