[Peace-discuss] Will we condemn it as we did iran?

[unionyes]

The Afgan government and the Obama administration must have used Choice 
Point Inc. , the company who rigged our 2000 and 2004 elections, and 
Mexico's 2006 elections.

David J.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at illinois.edu>
To: "peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2009 9:14 PM
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Will we condemn it as we did iran?


> "'Of course there were some irregularities, that happens in the United 
> States,' said US regional envoy Richard Holbrooke."
>
> Mass rigging in Afghan vote says leading contender
> by Waheedullah Massoud
>
> KABUL (AFP) – A leading contender for the Afghan presidency who says he is 
> ahead in the count after last week's election alleged widespread rigging 
> as authorities said Sunday they were probing 225 claims of abuses.
>
> Western allies hailed the elections as a successful vote for democracy, 
> but a litany of flaws and evidence that the vote was not totally free have 
> mounted since Thursday's poll and fuelled speculation about a possible 
> run-off.
>
> "There are widespread irregularities, fraud and efforts for rigging," said 
> ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, President Hamid Karzai's closest 
> challenger and who, like the incumbent, claims to be leading the vote.
>
> He said his team received "constant reports" that turnout, which observers 
> say was the lowest for an election since the 2001 US-led invasion, was in 
> some areas inflated by four times the real figure, with all the votes for 
> Karzai.
>
> "Since this is a sign of widespread rigging, I thought the people of 
> Afghanistan deserve to know what is going on and the international 
> community deserves to know about our concerns," he said.
>
> Abdullah ran an energetic campaign and his claims of success, coupled with 
> reports of a miserable turnout in Karzai's southern powerbase, have 
> boosted speculation about a run-off, which would take place in early 
> October.
>
> "Of course there were some irregularities, that happens in the United 
> States and all the countries of the world," said US regional envoy Richard 
> Holbrooke, who has been in Afghanistan since the eve of the election.
>
> To avoid a second round, one candidate would need to win an outright 
> majority of 50 percent plus one vote. With definitive results not due 
> until next month, Afghan and Western officials are calling for calm.
>
> Abdullah's powerbase in the north means he has the widespread support of 
> Tajiks, whereas Karzai's strong influence in the Pashtun-dominated south 
> means the two largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan are potentially 
> divided.
>
> Abdullah said the allegations of rigging had been directed to 
> Afghanistan's independent Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) for 
> investigation.
>
> "As of close of business yesterday, the ECC had received approximately 225 
> complaints. And these are complaints on and since election day," ECC 
> chairman Grant Kippen told reporters earlier.
>
> The charges include tampering with ballot boxes, intimidation of voters, 
> violence, failures of supposedly indelible ink meant to prevent people 
> from voting twice and interference in polling, he said.
>
> "Thirty-five have been assigned a high priority and these are ones that we 
> had to deem to be material to the outcome of the election results," he 
> said.
> The election authority is expected to release turnout numbers this week 
> but observers have reported low figures, including just 10 percent in some 
> areas.
> Partial results are scheduled to be released from Tuesday with the 
> election commission saying 90 percent of results are expected to arrive at 
> the national tally centre in Kabul by the end of Monday.
>
> Insurgents from the Taliban, which was in government between 1996 and 2001 
> and is strong in the south, threatened attacks to disrupt the vote.
>
> There were a series of rocket and bomb assaults on election day, but no 
> catastrophic large-scale onslaught.
>
> "We are aware of significant complaints of voting irregularities in 
> provinces that were affected by violence on polling day," Kippen said.
>
> Although the election was hailed a success in foreign capitals which have 
> pumped billions into Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion and 
> deployed 100,000 troops to contain a Taliban insurgency, concerns have 
> mounted.
>
> "Free was not the case in some parts of the territory due to terror 
> installed," said the head of the EU observation mission, Philippe 
> Morillon.
>
> The Free and Fair Foundation of Afghanistan mentioned cases of 
> intimidation, multiple and under-age voting, fraud, ballot stuffing, 
> partial election commission staff and militants cutting off the fingers of 
> two voters.
>
> In further developments a top US military officer has said Al-Qaeda 
> remains "very capable" of attacking the United States, as he tried to 
> boost waning US support for the conflict in Afghanistan.
>
> Nearly eight years after the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed some 
> 3,000 people, Al-Qaeda is "still very capable, very focused on it," 
> chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen said on NBC's Meet the 
> Press.
>
> "They also are able to both train and support and finance, and so that 
> capability is still significant," he said.
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090824/wl_afp/afghanistanvote_20090824013653/print
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