Voter Fraud Accusations Multiply

One week after Afghanistan's presidential election, a winner has yet to be declared. The Washington Post reports that accusations of voter fraud and coercion are multiplying, with all five leading candidates filing complaints and election-related prisoners still populating jails. An imprisoned election monitor in northern Afghanistan told the Post he was beaten after complaining to police that his polling station had been shut down by opponents of incumbent President Hamid Karzai. Will the election turmoil affect the Obama administration's goals in Afghanistan? The BBC reports that U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke recently had an "explosive" meeting with Karzai in which the envoy demanded, for the second time, that Karzai hold a second-round runoff election. A "number of senior sources" reported a "dramatic bust-up" with Karzai reacting angrily and cutting the meeting short.