THE REWARDS OF STAYING THE COURSE

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Free and open elections have been successfully held in Afghanistan.

They can thank our President, his administration, our allies and our fine volunteer military for staying the course and making it possible.

And this scenario of free and open elections is soon to play out in Iraq if we stay the course and reselect GW Bush as President.

That is my opinion based, in part, on the following report of the Afghan election.

By AMY WALDMAN

Published: October 10, 2004

kABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 9 - Afghans turned out to vote in large numbers Saturday in their first presidential election, an event that was unexpectedly peaceful but soon marred by 15 candidates' declaring the election illegitimate because of what they said was widespread cheating and fraud.

Those candidates asked for a new vote. But United Nations and Afghan officials overseeing the voting largely dismissed their concerns, saying they believed any problems had been corrected during the day. They said they would investigate all complaints. The criticism cast a shadow on what was otherwise a historic success for Afghans who have endured more than two decades of war and turmoil.

From villages in remote parts of the country to the poorest districts in Kabul, Afghans lined up patiently to cast their votes. Although precise numbers were not yet available, election officials praised the turnout.

Officials said the results could take two to three weeks to be tallied, because retrieving and counting ballots would be a drawn-out process.

The expected threat to the elections - attacks by Taliban insurgents who vowed to disrupt the voting - generally failed to materialize, although 11 people died in mine blasts in the south.

Campaigning in St. Louis on Saturday, President Bush celebrated the arrival of elections in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban government in 2001. He said, "Just three years ago, women were being executed in the sports stadium. Today they're voting for a leader of a free country.''

He added: "Today is an appropriate day for Americans to remember and thank the men and women of our armed forces who liberated Afghanistan.''

More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/international/asia/10afghan.html?oref=login&th

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People were for the Afghanistan war because that was where Osma Bin Laden was.

We still do not have Osma Bin Laden.

Iraq is a unqualified disaster that hardly anyone besides folks such as yourself disputes.

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revel wrote:

People were for the Afghanistan war because that was where Osma Bin Laden was.

We still do not have Osma Bin Laden.

Iraq is a unqualified disaster that hardly anyone besides folks such as yourself disputes.

Yet, progress towards a freely elected government in both those countries continues because of the will of their people and the steady hand of assistance from the U.S. and her allies.

Naysayers will not change that, IMO.

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Quote:

Free and open elections have been successfully held in Afghanistan.

They can thank our President, his administration, our allies and our fine volunteer military for staying the course and making it possible.

First, usually the term is "free and fair" elections. Interesting that you leave out the word "fair".

Second, it is clear that there were elections in Afghanistan. Whether they were free or open is far from certain.

Third, whether these elections were even a good idea is yet to be seen. All ready, before the votes have even been counted, there are deep and bitter conflicts over how the election was conducted. Yesterday, NPR was reporting that 15 of the most popular candidates "boycotted" the election because of an ink fiasco that meant there is no way to ensure that people weren't voting 2 or 3 times.

Naysayers will not change that.... but it is history that will judge.

Your rosy predictions are very premature.

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ebrown_p wrote:

Quote:

Free and open elections have been successfully held in Afghanistan.

Your rosy predictions are very premature.

As are those predicting, or hoping for, failure in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What else can I say...I am an optimist.

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I am a realist. I am certainly hoping that Afghanistan can have peace with a stable, just government. I just don't see any evidence that peace is where they are heading.

Elections are important, but don't mean much in themselves. Remember that Iraq had elections-- before we invided.

I would also remind you that Karzai is not an unbiased observer. He very clearly wants to have power in the new government. I am not necessarily saying that he is bad, but he certainly does not offer an objective view of the situation.

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ebrown_p wrote:

I am a realist. I am certainly hoping that Afghanistan can have peace with a stable, just government. I just don't see any evidence that peace is where they are heading.

Elections are important, but don't mean much in themselves. Remember that Iraq had elections-- before we invided.

I would also remind you that Karzai is not an unbiased observer. He very clearly wants to have power in the new government. I am not necessarily saying that he is bad, but he certainly does not offer an objective view of the situation.

No argument there. Same is true of Bush and Kerry who want to have the top position in our government.

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Bush said it best. The women of Afghanistan have gone from being slaves and suspect to voting their voice in their issues. Anyone who thought it would go off with a hitch wasn't being realistic.

Blacks endured some pretty horrible treatment as they began to exercise their right to vote. These things are to be expected. Fought and decried, but expected. Something wonderful has started in the ME. There will be no going back.

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Lash:

I fear we may be "Going Back" again and again.

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It is good that women are out from under the taliban and it is good that people are starting the process of elections in Afghanistan.

However those were not the reasons that we went in Afghanistan. We went because the taliban refused to hand over bin laden; the mastermind behind 9/11.

Bin Laden is still in the same hills and caves and remote places that he was in before we went in to Afghanistan. The people there are helping him hide. We have not changed that; so we have not met our objective in going into Afghanistan.

In regards to Iraq, I think we could have continued the sanctions and inspections to make sure that saddam's wmd didn't start up again, but I don't think it was necessary to go to war and kill people in order to remove a regime that was not a threat to our country or any other country.

So even if Iraq somehow by some miracle is able to have real fair and free elections, it does not change the fact that we had no right to wage war against that country when we did and kill innocent people.

In summary staying the course is just to ask for more failures and dumb decisions.

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"In summary staying the course is just to ask for more failures and dumb decisions."

That's what Kerry says, as well. Guess we will just have to wait and see what our electorate thinks on Nov 2.

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THE REWARDS OF STAYING THE COURSE

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