Can the U.S. Still Work with Afghanistans Hamid Karzai?
By TIM MCGIRK / KABUL Tim Mcgirk / Kabul time.com In the good old days, Afghan President Hamid Karzai would dial into a weekly videoconference call with his buddy George W. Bush. No longer. The Obama Administration cut Karzai’s direct access to the White House earlier this year. The new Administration views Karzai’s corrupt and flailing presidency as a big reason that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are regaining so much ground in Afghanistan. Last month’s presidential election was meant to help that. Democracy, at least, was one thing that the U.S.-led forces in the central Asian nation had managed to make work. Instead, the polls have turned into a disaster. Opposition politicians and Western diplomats allege epic-scale ballot-box stuffing, mainly by – but not exclusively – supporters of Karzai. The U.N. says votes in districts where fraud is proved to have taken place should be annulled. Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Commission has ordered a partial recount of the vote, citing “clear
