Latest related: AmeriKa Losing Both Battles in Afghanistan
It's amazing how tame the criticism has been of the fraud in the ele.... oh, right, not Iran. Either way, Afghans know whoever "wins" will be a fraudulent puppet for US interests.
"Karzai lauds panel that says he leads in Afghan election" by Heidi Vogt, Associated Press | September 10, 2009
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai stressed his support for Afghanistan’s election commission yesterday as international trust in the group appeared to erode following allegations of widespread fraud in last month’s presidential poll.
Karzai’s praise for the Independent Election Commission came a day after it announced preliminary results giving him more than 50 percent of the vote, the threshold for avoiding a runoff against his top challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister.... signaling a widening fissure between the government and the international overseers of the vote.
Patience, Lord Vader, you always had trouble showing patience.
A senior Western diplomat has alleged that a majority of votes in three provinces - Kandahar, Paktika, and Khost - are fraudulent. Partial returns from each of those provinces heavily favor Karzai. Others have alleged there have been as many as 800 fake polling sites, and that results have been submitted from voting centers that never opened because of poor security....
The president released his statement after the commission announced Tuesday that with 92 percent of polling stations now counted, preliminary results showed Karzai has 54 percent of the vote, against 28 percent for Abdullah.
Yeah, that LEAD REALLY WIDENED OUT, huh?
Abdullah has repeatedly charged that the election commission is rigging the vote. The commission’s announcement that Karzai holds a commanding lead is “not acceptable. It’s not real.’’ he told the Associated Press.
Walter Mebane, a political science professor at the University of Michigan who specializes in election data analysis, said the results posted so far show “a pattern that is widely suspicious.’’
Do YOU REMEMBER, America?
The preponderance of results ending in zeros is highly unlikely and “very compatible with the ballot boxes being stuffed or the counting being faked,’’ Mebane said.
Commission officials have warned that recounts ordered by the complaints commission could mean final results won’t be known for months.
--more--"
Related: Election panel voids more Afghan votes
Update:
"Wave of violence kills 50 in Afghanistan; 5 US troops die in roadside attacks" by Rahim Faiez, Associated Press | September 13, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan - In a separate development, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, hung onto his 54 percent-to-28 percent lead over his closest rival early today in the presidential contest as the vote count ground on in the face of fraud allegations....
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission has now released results from 93 percent of polling stations. Five percent of votes have not been counted, while the rest have been quarantined for suspected fraud....
Oh, THAT WON'T OVER TURN THAT 4%, you watch!!!
--more--"
Dunh dunh dunh, dunh, dunh, dunh dunh, Dunh dunh dunh, dunh, dunh, dunh dunh (start humming hail to the chief, Afghans. Yeah, I know how you feel -- somewhat).
