US President Barack Obama congratulated the Afghan people on Friday for holding a presidential election amid violent intimidation by Taliban militants, but cautioned that more difficult days lie ahead for the war-weary nation.
“This is an important step forward in the Afghan people’s efforts to take control of their future even as violent extremists are trying to stand in their way,” Obama said at the White House before boarding Marine One for a flight to the presidential mountaintop retreat at Camp David, Maryland.
In Kabul, government chief electoral officer Daoud Ali Najafi said results from Thursday’s balloting would not be made public until Tuesday.
Obama said it was the first democratic election run by Afghans in more than three decades. The 2004 election that put President Hamid Karzai in power was run by the UN. Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah each described himself on Friday as the likely winner of Thursday’s voting, although many believed they would be forced to compete in a runoff election in October.
The US has been steadily increasing its military efforts in Afghanistan since Obama took office, arguing that that is a far more effective use of American troops than the Bush administration’s emphasis on the war in Iraq. US and allied casualties also have mounted, particularly since 2007.
Obama said it was obvious in advance of the election that the Taliban, who control substantial portions of the country, particularly in the volatile south, would attempt to disrupt the voting.
“Over the last few days, in particular yesterday, we’ve seen acts of violence and intimidation by the Taliban, and there may be more in the days to come,” he said.
Regardless of the ultimate winner of the presidential election, the US will continue to work with Afghans to stabilize the country, Obama said.
“Our goal is clear: To disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda and their extremist allies,” he said. “That goal will be achieved, and our troops will be able to come home as Afghans continue to strengthen their own capacity and take responsibility for their own future.”
With memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dimming, Americans are growing weary of the conflict. New polling this week showed a majority — 51 percent — of those surveyed now believe the war is not worth the fight, an increase of 6 percentage points in a month.
Still, a White House strategy review is scheduled for the middle of next month and General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, is expected to press for a further increase in forces for his counterinsurgency campaign.
Senator Bob Corker, a Republican who was in Afghanistan to observe Thursday’s elections, told CNN on Friday that more US troops probably would be needed, given the importance of security in moving Afghanistan toward political stability.
“The fact that security was more of a concern during this election than the 2004 election obviously says a lot about what’s occurred here over the last five years,” Corker said in an interview from Pakistan. He was referring to the deterioration of security as the Taliban has gained strength in some areas.
Just three years ago the US had about 20,000 forces in the country. Today, it has triple that, on the way to 68,000 by the end of this year, when all of the extra 17,000 troops that Obama announced in March are to be in place. An additional 4,000 troops are arriving to help train Afghan forces.
Obama has not wavered from his campaign pledge to take the fight to the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He argues that the true danger to Americans lies in the towering peaks and vast deserts of those countries, not in Iraq. The Bush administration, he asserts, wasted precious time, treasure and blood in toppling former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and getting caught up in an insurgency.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS