1 Boring Old Man

KABUL — The top challenger to Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced Sunday that he would not take part in a runoff election scheduled for next Saturday, further clouding the country’s uncertain political picture and likely leaving Karzai in power without a strong mandate to rule in the middle of a war with Taliban insurgents.

Abdullah Abdullah, speaking at a mid-morning gathering of several thousand supporters, stopped short of calling for an electoral boycott, but he did not make clear what he expects his partisans to do if the vote is held. At a news conference afterward, he repeatedly declined to predict or suggest what should happen now, stressing that his only decision was "not to participate" in the Nov. 7 runoff.

Officials of the national independent election commission said they would consult with constitutional lawyers before deciding whether plans should go ahead for the poll, which was called after reports of widespread fraud in the August election. Some analysts questioned the wisdom of holding an election with only one candidate, especially amid fears that security forces will not be able to protect voters and election workers from Taliban attacks.

Karzai’s political campaign, in a statement late Sunday, said campaign officials had hoped Abdullah would participate in the runoff to "strengthen popular power" and constitutional rule. In light of his withdrawal, they said they would respect "whatever decision is made" by the election commission and other legal agencies. They refrained from criticizing Abdullah and said they hoped to "complete the election process with national unity"…

Abdullah said his decision to withdraw was "final," and that he had made it this week after Karzai refused to meet several conditions to ensure the poll would be fair. Abdullah’s major request was that Karzai remove the head of the electoral commission, Azizullah Lodin, whom Abdullah accused of bias and of engineering election fraud in August.

"The decision I have made was not easy. I made it not only for those who voted for me, but for everyone in Afghanistan," Abdullah said in a long, dramatic speech that was interrupted by supportive cheers. He said all Afghans "have the right" to participate in free and fair elections, but that some had been threatened with having their houses burned down if they voted for him on Nov. 7…

Didn’t we think this same way in Viet Nam? and in Iran? Support the corrupt ally so the bad meanies won’t take over. It seems insoluble to me. We fight for the corrupt ally; we lose; then the bad meanies don’t like us. And didn’t the Russians try something like this in Afghanistan [from 1979 through 1989], then give up and just go home? Right now, I’m trying to recall a situation where U.S. Evangelical Democracy has worked out in the long run. Nothing comes immediately to mind.