Karzai - Second Term

Abdullah Abdullah evidently decided that even with UN inspectors monitoring the polling stations, that he would not get a fair vote count, and bowed out of Afghanistan's presidential race. His departure allowed the Election Committee to give President Karzai his second term.

USA President Obama congratulated Karzai but said that Karzai's actions would speak louder than words and would be very influential in what actions the USA takes over the next several months.

Why did Abdullah bow out? Okay, we know the first election was corrupt and rigged, but this time the hope was UN inspectors would make some kind of difference. If nothing else, a close contest would have put pressure on Karzai to focus on the Afghan people and his country, rather than himself and immediate family.

My fear is that Karzai will now consider himself invincible, becoming arrogant, aloof and a dangerous ally.

Hopefully I am wrong. Time will tell. In the meantime tens of thousands of American military service personnel are putting their lives on line to free Afghanistan of the Taliban and al Qaeda. If they do not receive the support they need - foremost from the Afghan people and government - then their mission will fail and the deaths of thousands (American and Afghan) will have been for nothing.

President Obama needs to watch President Karzai closely and insure the security of our military personnel. If Karzai betrays us, the the USA and NATO need to withdraw from Afghanistan and join with hunting down the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan. Karzai will be left to his own devices, and maybe that desperate act will allow the Afghan people to have a true chance for freedom.

Its Common Sense!