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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Election disputes cloud outlook for Afghan war

Ballot boxes sit at the compound of the election commission office Tuesday in Jalalabad,  Afghanistan.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Laura King Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan – What was billed as a pivotal summer for the Western war effort in Afghanistan has become a season of drift and disappointment.

The country’s second-ever direct presidential election – a vote that was intended to be unifying, even uplifting – has taken an uncertain and ugly turn. The first partial results, released Tuesday, were inconclusive but pointed toward the possibility of a divisive runoff between President Hamid Karzai and his chief rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Meanwhile, fraud allegations have become more vociferous and angry.

A final, certified tally is not expected for weeks, and a clouded election result could splinter the country along ethnic lines and usher in a prolonged period of political paralysis just as the West is trying to revive and revamp its war strategy.

Western troop casualties are now running at their highest levels since the start of the 8-year-old conflict. Roadside bombs and ambushes claim a near-daily toll; four more U.S. troops were killed in a single bombing on Tuesday.

Thousands of American soldiers have arrived in the country in recent months, but huge numbers of them are tied down trying to hold and protect tiny slivers of territory in the volatile south. At the same time, American public support for the Afghan mission is faltering, and senior military officials are using some of their bleakest language to date to describe the battlefield impasse.

The Taliban, while failing to deliver on threats to derail last week’s presidential vote, are displaying a growing degree of sophistication and ruthlessness in attacks that mainly kill and maim Afghan civilians. At least 40 people died Tuesday evening when insurgents tried a new tactic in the southern city of Kandahar: stringing together explosives-laden vehicles and setting off five of them in thunderous succession.

Five days after the landmark presidential vote, Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission – a body criticized by outside observers for its close ties to incumbent Karzai – said tallies from 10 percent of the country’s polling centers suggested Karzai and his chief rival, Abdullah, are locked in a tight race.

The early figures released Tuesday by election officials gave Karzai 40.6 percent and Abdullah 38.7 percent of the vote. Either candidate would need more than 50 percent to win outright. The more than two dozen other candidates were trailing well behind Karzai and Abdullah.

If the preliminary figures hold up in the final count, a runoff election would not be held until October. “I think tensions will continue to grow while we wait,” said analyst Abdulhadi Hairan of the Center for Conflict and Peace Studies in Kabul.