KABUL, (Reuters) – More than half the top Afghan district election officials are being replaced to try to prevent more fraud and produce a credible result in next month’s presidential run-off vote, U.N. officials said yesterday.
The move followed an announcement by President Hamid Karzai that he would accept a Nov. 7 run-off, clearing one obstacle for U.S. President Barack Obama as he considers whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban.
In Washington, Obama said he could reach a decision on his new Afghanistan strategy before the run-off, although he said it might not immediately be announced.
Amid flagging U.S. public support for the war, the Obama administration has stressed that a credible government must be in place in Kabul for any U.S. strategy to succeed.
Several U.S. officials said a power-sharing deal between Karzai and his opponent, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, remained an option that could preclude the need for a run-off, or possibly follow one.
Washington would not “stand in the way” of such an agreement if it could be reached as a way of shoring up public support for an Afghan government, one of the officials said.
Obama, whom critics accuse of dragging his feet on the troop decision, made clear he would not be rushed. “We are going to take the time to get this right,” he told MSNBC.
But he added, “We’re not going to drag it out because there is a sense that the sooner we get a sound approach in place and personnel in place, the better off we’re going to be.”
Republican Senator John McCain said in an interview with Reuters he was guardedly optimistic that Obama would send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, but that it was time for his long Afghan review to end.
McCain, who lost last year’s presidential election to Obama, said it would be “a mistake of historic proportions” for Obama not to accept the recommendations of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, who has requested tens of thousands more troops and beefed-up training of Afghan forces.
“But I do have confidence that the president will make the right decision,” McCain said.
Karzai agreed on Tuesday to accept the run-off against Abdullah after days of diplomatic wrangling and a U.N.-led fraud inquiry that tossed out enough Karzai votes to trigger a second round.
Concerns about a repeat of the widespread fraud that tainted the first round on Aug. 20 cast a long shadow as hasty preparations for the new poll began.
