America's Future In Afghanistan Is Being Decided Tomorrow

The Men Shaping America’s Future in Afghanistan -- David Francis, The Fiscal Times

Tensions are rising in Afghanistan ahead of Saturday’s presidential elections, with the Taliban increasing violence and candidates trading accusations that the vote to replace Afghan President Hamid Karzai would be rigged.

The latest violence occurred in the northern Sar-e-Pul province, where a provincial government candidate was killed, along with nine of his supporters. This follows an incident Wednesday in which a Taliban suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, killing six guards.

Meanwhile, even before votes have been cast, frontrunners in the presidential election are warning that the vote would be invalid due to election fraud. In 2009, some one million votes were disqualified under suspicious circumstances. Now, Abdullah, one of the favored candidates, says he is concerned about “industrial-scale fraud,” while his chief rival, former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, added his concerns, telling the Guardian, "People will not be deprived of their right to good governance."

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My Comment: This is a watershed election. U.S. and international military forces are leaving .... and Afghanistan will be running their own affairs. And while I am deeply pessimistic on it's future .... I am hopeful that at least the extremists will be held at bay .... and if they do decide to escalate the war, it will be the Afghans that will be doing the fighting and not U.S./ISAF forces.