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Obama backs Karzai, despite vote-rigging

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-03 05:05

US President Barack Obama greets supporters after stepping off Air Force One at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, November 1, 2009. [Agencies]

"Tough Conversations"

After US troops suffered their bloodiest month in the eight-year-old war in October, his administration would have been reluctant to commit troops to police a run-off election in which there was only one candidate and which the Taliban had vowed to attack.

But it now has to work with a severely weakened leader whose government is viewed by many Afghans as both corrupt and inept. Relations between Karzai and Washington also soured after the fraud-tainted August election and US officials had to pressure the Afghan president to stand in the run-off.

Full Coverage:  Afghan Presidential Election Related readings:  Karzai declared Afghan president, run-off cancelled  Afghan run-off canceled with Karzai winning  Karzai says wants 'better' Afghan election run-off  Obama welcomes Karzai's acceptance of 2nd round election

Opinion polls show Americans are split over the Afghanistan war, so the administration will likely have a tough job selling a troop increase to shore up a leader whose credibility has been called into question.

Gibbs said there would be "tough conversations" with Karzai on issues of governance and corruption and ensuring that economic and development aid reached the people it was aimed at. Gibbs said Obama would telephone Karzai on Monday.

With the run-off now canceled, Obama is likely to come under more pressure to make a decision soon on his strategy, although the White House has said such an important policy shift requires careful consideration.

"Although the election in Afghanistan was deeply flawed and filled with uncertainty, we now have an outcome and can begin to move forward," said Rep. Ike Skelton, Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, who backs General Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,000 more troops.

There are currently some 67,000 US troops in the country.

The House Republican leader, John Boehner, said the scrapping of the run-off had removed the "pretext for delaying the decision on giving General McChrystal the resources he needs to achieve our goals in Afghanistan.

"Delaying the decision puts our men and women fighting there in greater danger every single day," he said in a statement.

Senator John Kerry, Democratic chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who played a key role in persuading Karzai to take part in the run-off, said the Afghan president now had "to demonstrate genuine progress in combating corruption, establishing rule of law, and bringing measurable improvement to peoples' lives."

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