Word: talibans
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...purposes of creating a representative government as the foundation of U.S. counterinsurgency strategy, the key flaw of Afghanistan's August election was not the widespread ballot fraud; it was the fact that almost 3 out of 4 voters didn't show up at the polls because of the Taliban security threat. So, while a runoff election might satisfy the fraud complaints, it won't make the resulting government much more representative unless millions more voters show up at the polls this time. But the deteriorating security situation and limits of the appeal of both candidates give little reason to expect...
...considered the much more likely outcome. But in reality, the manner in which the electoral stalemate is resolved doesn't substantially alter the basic choice facing Obama: either send tens of thousands more U.S. troops, which U.S. commander General Stan McChrystal says are necessary simply to halt the Taliban's advance, or draw down to a policing operation against al-Qaeda and abandon the goal of defeating the Taliban...
...explosion that killed five people. The latest in a string of attacks against foreign aid workers in the region, the Oct. 5 bombing was particularly disquieting given the ease with which the perpetrator infiltrated the heavily protected compound, just steps from President Asif Ali Zardari's residence. A Taliban spokesman confirmed that the group was responsible for the incident, the deadliest in the Pakistani capital since April. In the aftermath, the U.N. said it would temporarily shutter all its Pakistan offices, which provide aid to many of the estimated 2 million people displaced by fighting in the Swat Valley...
...conduct of "free, fair and transparent" elections. On two occasions, I started to take action that could have reduced the risk of fraud. In July, I learned that there were 1,500 polling centers (out of a total of 7,000) sited in places either controlled by the Taliban or so insecure that no one from the IEC, the Afghan army or the Afghan police had ever visited. It was obvious that these polling centers would never open on election day. They were also perfect vehicles for fraud. Since no observer, campaign representative or voter could go to the locations...
...Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen warned last month, "We have this safe haven in a sovereign country that is threatening, plotting against Americans and other Western countries, and it must be eliminated.") See TIME's photo-essay "On the Frontlines in the Battle Against the Taliban...