Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Afghanistan War News Updates -- October 21, 2009



Is Escalation Obama's Only Choice in Afghanistan? -- Time Magaazine

The acceptance by Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai that ballot fraud has stripped him of his first-round re-election victory potentially removes the last obstacle cited by the Obama Administration to sending thousands more U.S. troops into the war. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said over the weekend that reinforcements could not be sent until the allegations of electoral fraud had been resolved, because the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy depends on defending a legitimate government. But the Afghan electoral commission's ruling that, after fraudulent ballots were discarded, Karzai had failed to win an outright majority in the first round of voting means that he'll have to face a runoff race against his closest challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Read more ....

More News On Afghanistan

Obama Not Yet Sure of Afghanistan Troop Decision Timing -- Breitbart/AFP
Gates: US Decision Can't Wait for Afghan Legitimacy -- Reuters
Strategy Review Will Continue to Move Forward, Gates Says -- U.S. Department of Defense
Gates denies rift on Afghan war strategy -- Reuters

Obama cites higher hope for Afghanistan democracy -- Yahoo News/AP
Karzai Accepts Runoff, Ending Political Deadlock -- Wall Street Journal
Obama Congratulates Karzai on Agreeing to Run-off -- Voice of America
Winter Election Looms as Hamid Karzai Bows to Pressure -- Times Online
Karzai Bows to Pressure, OKs Runoff -- L.A. Times
Afghanistan braces for Round 2 of marathon election -- McClatchy News
Karzai Voiced Doubts About Runoff Until Last Moment -- Washington Post
Runoff a test for Afghanistan: Is Karzai a reliable partner? -- Christian Science Monitor
Afghanistan election runoff poses daunting challenges -- Christian Science Monitor
UN Chief Learns 'Valuable, Painful' Lessons From Afghan Vote -- Voice of America
SCENARIOS-Outcomes for the Afghan presidential run-off -- Reuters

Bomb kills US soldier in Afghanistan: NATO -- AFP
Pakistan army kills 15 militants in Taliban strongholds -- China View
US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 805 -- AP

Pentagon Officials Announce 2010 Afghanistan Deployments -- Army.com
NATO generals visit Afghanistan, behind a wall of security -- Reuters
NATO wants clarity in Afghanistan before troop move -- Reuters
Australia seeks quick Afghan troop withdrawal -- AFP
Australian Government 'running down' Afghan commitment -- ABC News (Australia)
Japan mulls defense forces' role in Afghanistan -- Stars And Stripes
China Becomes A Player In Afghanistan's Future -- NPR
Fred Starr: Keep on trucking, Afghanistan -- Foreign Policy

Commentaries And Analysis

Afpak Progress -- Wall Street Journal editorial
Afghanistan 2011: Three Scenarios -- Abu Muqawama
Nobody Wins in the Afghan Runoff Election -- Rajan Menon, Los Angeles Times opinion
Stratfor: The U.S. Challenge in Afghanistan -- Fabius Maximus
Mr. Karzai Relents -- New York Times editorial
Evening the Score in Afghanistan -- Thane Rosenbaum, Wall Street Journal opinion
The White House's mixed messages on troops -- Passport/Foreign Policy

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