Afghanistan: Now what?

Los Angeles Times | Nov. 3, 2009 (Editorial)

In the first round of balloting, Afghan President Hamid Karzai received 1 million "ghost votes" from people who simply didn't exist. When those were eliminated, he lacked the requisite plurality and was pressed by his Western backers into agreeing to a runoff -- only to see his challenger drop out in anticipation of further fraud. Faced with a one-man race, the Independent Election Commission on Monday canceled the second round and returned Karzai to power ... Full Story »

Posted by Derek Hawkins

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4.3

by Manfred Ostrowski - Nov. 4, 2009

This brief statement of LA Times opinion offers the basic facts of recent events concerning Afghanistan in a straightforward way, then it gives a point of view of what now should be U.S. policy towards the Afghans and their government. The proposal seems to be very sincere and sounds quite convincing, still one would have wished for more detail.

I think the LA Times editorial is right: President Obama "must .. help develop a more decentralized administration". The new government should be pressed to serve its people. Regional leaders should have an important voice.

Decentralization would allow the West to spread its resources to regional leaders rather than concentrating them in the hands of Karzai and his clique.