Hundreds of tribal elders and officials from southern Afghanistan gathered in Kabul yesterday to protest against alleged electoral fraud that robbed entire districts of their votes and allocated them to President Karzai.
In a string of searing testimonies, community leaders told of villages that had been too terrified to vote because of Taleban threats — yet had mysteriously produced full ballot boxes. They said that most of the phantom votes had been cast for Mr Karzai, often by his own men or tribal leaders loyal to him.
“How is it that in a district which a governor can only visit once every two years, where it’s too dangerous for the police to go, where even Nato can’t fly — how come there were 20,000 votes collected?” asked Hamidullah Tokhy, a tribal elder from Kandahar province.
The council of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan is led by Ahmed Wali Karzai, the President’s half-brother.
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Nice picture of three palm readers.
I thought the routine was to have one guy covering his ears, one guy covering his eyes and the third guy covering his mouth…
Now Mac, thats no way to talk about Iggy, Jackass Laytton and Dueceppee.
Now Mac, thats no way to talk about the american Iggy, Jackass Layton and Dueceppee.
The election coverage was a joke and anyone who now seriously believes that we are making any significant “progress” in that God-forsaken country must be blind. The BBC ran this story — http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8236450.stm – today and nothing in it is surprising. Karzai is as corrupt as any of the others, and his persona as a beleagured but wise old democrat (fur hat and cape included) is little more than a public relations stunt to lull Western audiences into continuing to sacrifice blood and treasure. We should just pack up and leave. If the Taliban returns to power, we can always bomb them every now and again to let them know we are watching their actions.