The Other Election

There was another Election Acceptance Speech delivered today and it seems to have been lost in the hoopla of Bush's win. It should not be. From the NY Times: bq. Karzai Formally Named Winner of Afghan Presidential Election KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 3 - President Hamid Karzai was formally announced the winner of the Oct. 9 presidential election by Afghanistan's electoral board this afternoon after an international panel announced that irregularities it had investigated were not significant enough to change the overall result. bq. "We sincerely congratulate him and wish him big success in his affairs," Zakim Shah, president of the board, said in front of assembled journalists. bq. Mr. Karzai polled 55.4 percent, easily passing the necessary 50 percent threshold, and 39 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, former education Minister Muhammad Yunus Qanooni, who won 16.3 per cent. This election was not without its problems though: bq. Mr. Karzai's success at the polls has also been overshadowed by the kidnapping of three foreign United Nations election workers in Kabul six days ago by a group that has threatened to kill the three if its demands are not met. The group, which calls itself Jaish-e-Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, extended its deadline from noon today until night, saying that it was in negotiations with the government. And more: bq. The leader and others claiming to speak for the group have made demands in almost daily telephone calls to news agencies that the United Nations and international troops leave Afghanistan and that all Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners being held in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be released. They have also said that if security forces attempt to rescue the hostages, they will be killed. People being held in Gitmo are being held for a reason. One of the lesser security risks was released and he turned around and did this: bq. Abdullah Mehsud, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate who masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers, has claimed responsibility for a blast last week at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, a journalist said on Monday. The election was being supervised by a panel of UN advisers. They did find fraud but (emphasis mine): bq. The international panel concluded that fraud had occurred, in particular evident ballot box stuffing, but that it had not been widespread or limited to one particular candidate. "There were fewer problems on election day than many experts had anticipated," Craig Jenness, a Canadian diplomat and one of the three members of the panel, said.