So, President Karzai, congratulations on joining the Association of unDemocratic Presidents, whose luminaries include, as well as your good self:
George W Bush.
Kibake of Kenya.
AhmediNajad.
Senior General Than Shwe.
Mugabe.
What have these six beauties all got in common?
They all got to be President by means of electoral fraud, rigged voting, or outright denial of losing an election.
They also represent a slippery downward slope, a 21st century Rake's Progress from stupidity, to corruption, through ethnic oppression to ethnic cleansing, through escalating levels of violence towards the bloody and putrid abomination of genocide.
This is the tendency, and electoral fraud is a sure sign that people are setting out to go down that path; it is a kind of wicket gate. An outward and visible sign that this President cares not a jot for the will of the people.
We the people need to get a grip on this.
What we need is a framework of international law that penalises the government that takes that step in a specified and appropriate way.
I'm not sure what would be the best kind of penalty. Certainly, automatic loss of right to sit on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) would be a first step. Enhanced UN rapportage on human rights, corruption and crime would be another.
Add your own thoughts below.
That's correct! I was very disgusted with the election process and especially with what happened afterwards - I mean, that even after Karzai had tried to win the election with a rather massive fraud, in the end it was said, that since there was no other candidate, it is fair just to assign him a president - and for this I would hold the whole election commission liable, and shame on the USA for a support they expressed to such a decision! Lorne
ReplyDeleteIt makes a mockery of all our young men who died trying to bring democracy to the country.
ReplyDeleteWe do need to look at the consequences of a simple rapid withdrawal of UK or NATO forces from Afghanistan.
Do we simply want to leave it to Karzai's incompetent, illegitimate and corrupt government?
Should NATO be replaced with UN peacekeepers?
Is the UN in a position to do this, in view of how they are targeted by insurgents? Who could go in? Muslims only? Shia or
Sunni?
Is the Taliban likely to re-impose their tyranny on the whole country, or in some regions?
Is civil war and Somalisation a possibility?
Having foolishly rushed in on Bush's coat-tails, the UK now has a responsibility for the outcome. Yes, we should not be there: but simple withdrawal must not
make things worse than before we started.
The idea of setting up a medical opium industry requires a stable situation; it is in fact, ironically, a key to success of the Afghan operation, which could
be brought about under a UN succession force, since the WHO would be involved.
The whole thing is a bloody horrible mess; some will say just
quit.
Maybe they're right. Maybe not. We need to debate this.