Nir Rosen does not heart Karzai

"NIR ROSEN: All reports we’re getting from around the country show that, indeed, there was massive ballot stuffing, massive fraud. And yet, the international community immediately praised these elections, which—and Afghans, at this point, are very skeptical of the elections. The perception is that the elections were a failure, were fraudulent. I don’t think the elections would matter very much, one way or the other. Perhaps they’ll matter if the new government that takes over implements some changes, because, in a way, the Taliban aren’t winning, but the Afghan government is losing. The Afghan government is perceived as being corrupt, incompetent, and oppressive sometimes. They’re just nonexistent. Now, the Karzai ticket—and surely Karzai will win—the Karzai ticket included warlords and drug dealers, and Karzai is accused of massive corruption in this election, which, in a way, perhaps is the one positive sign about the government. At least the Karzai government is actually efficient enough to implement a massive vote rigging. So they’re not completely incompetent. But this only further de-legitimizes the government and the international effort in Afghanistan, leading to more support for the Taliban." (thanks Olivia)