Ackerman ponders U.S. Afghanistan strategy
Photo credit: AP | Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday. (Oct. 20, 2009)
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WASHINGTON - Afghan president Hamid Karzai's agreement to a runoff left Rep. Gary Ackerman skeptical Wednesday about whether another presidential election would establish legitimacy for Afghanistan's government.
Ackerman, who chaired two House hearings this month on the flaws of the Aug. 20 Afghan election, raised doubts about Karzai's administration, which he accuses of being corrupt and ineffective.
"It's a welcome decision as far as it goes, but unfortunately, I've not heard anything that persuades me that a runoff election in a few weeks will be any more reliable an event than was the failed election it means to resolve," said Ackerman, a Roslyn Heights Democrat.
A UN-led fraud inquiry tossed thousands of votes, dropping Karzai's total to less than 50 percent of the overall vote, setting up a runoff with runner-up Abdullah Abdullah.
The legitimacy of the Afghan government is a key issue for President Barack Obama as he weighs strategy in the 8-year-old war and decides whether to send in 40,000 more troops.
Polls show Americans are divided: Democrats oppose sending so many more troops and most Republicans are for it.
Like Obama, Ackerman said he is struggling with an answer. "It's not a matter of just sending the troops. In my view, which is still developing and which is why it is such a close call, it has to be 'troops plus.' "
In addition to troops, Ackerman said, "There has to be a plan for how to fix their political problem, for how to fix their economic problem and for how to fix their confidence [in government] problem."
The fate of Afghanistan, he said, is tied to the fate of Pakistan, which with its nuclear arsenal, is tied to the security of the United States, he said.
If Afghanistan holds the tentatively scheduled Nov. 7 election, or even creates a coalition government, Ackerman said, "Their whole system is tainted, which doesn't instill any degree of confidence after the election concludes." Yet he added, "On the other hand, we can't afford for them to fail."
