Lawmakers Split on Afghan Decision: PHOTO
Washington - Top lawmakers sparred Sunday over the timing of President Barack Obama's decision on how to move ahead in Afghanistan, with Republicans urging a quick move to boost troop levels and Democrats counseling patience. In partisan displays, senators generally agreed on the need to support whatever Afghan government emerges from a Nov. 7 run-off election between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah. But they differed on exactly how to do that and when. Republicans said...

Lawmakers Split on Afghan Decision: PHOTO
Washington - Top lawmakers sparred Sunday over the timing of President Barack Obama's decision on how to move ahead in Afghanistan, with Republicans urging a quick move to boost troop levels and Democrats counseling patience. In partisan displays, senators generally agreed on the need to support whatever Afghan government emerges from a Nov. 7 run-off election between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah. But they differed on exactly how to do that and when. Republicans said...

Afghanistan Presidential election runs into more chaos
The Afghanistan Presidential Elections has run into more chaos after the sitting President Hamid Karzai's rival, Abdullah Abdullah demanded the removal of the country's election chief along with 200 other personnel of the election commission in order to ensure fairness in the second round of the election which is due in Nov after the first round was marred by fraud and rigging. The claims of alleged rigging in the first round of Elections has been backed by the UN election monitors who were...

Two Afghan crashes kill 14 from U.S.
Kabul, Afghanistan - In a day of Military tragedy and political drama, 11 American troops and three U.S. civilians died yesterday in two helicopter crashes in rural Afghanistan, while President Hamid Karzai and his top political rival escalated their dispute over conditions for holding a runoff election scheduled for Nov. 7. Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah demanded that the nation's top election official and three cabinet ministers be fired before the runoff, but Karzai refused. The...

Afghan rivals clash over runoff
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has rejected a demand from his rival in a presidential runoff to dismiss the country's top election official. The president's challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, had demanded that the head of the Independent Election Commission be fired saying he was biased towards Karzai. "Our ministers and officials, which Abdullah wants sacked or replaced, they have not done anything illegal ... that is why we cannot sack or replace them," Karzai said in a statement on Monday.

Lawmakers in partisan divide over timing of Obama's Afghan decision
Washington — Top lawmakers sparred Sunday over the timing of President Barack Obama's decision on how to move ahead in Afghanistan, with Republicans urging a quick move to boost troop levels and Democrats counseling patience. In partisan displays, senators generally agreed on the need to support whatever Afghan government emerges from a Nov. 7 run-off election between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah. But they differed on exactly how to do that and when. Republicans...

Lawmakers in partisan divide over timing of Obama's Afghan decision
Washington — Top lawmakers are sparring over the timing of President Barack Obama's decision on how to proceed in Afghanistan. Republicans want a quick move to boost troop levels. Democrats are asking for patience. In partisan displays on Sunday morning Talk Shows, senators from both parties agreed on the need to support whatever Afghan government emerges from the Nov. 7 runoff election between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah. But members of Congress aren't in...

Mixed reaction to Senator Reid's decision on public option
Washington (AP) - Some Democrats are calling Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's move to add a Public Option to Health Care reform bold and gutsy. But it's moderate Democrats who could sink the proposed overhaul by voting against it, and they're not saying much. Reid, however, is dangling an opt-out provision into the final bill in a bid to win their support. For his part, Reid says the Public Option is the best -- and fairest -- way to improve the current system. Republicans like...

Afghan Run-Off Election the Kiss of Death?
Some will no doubt take that headline as a rhetorical question, but John Hudson at Atlantic Wire has compiled views from people who were willing to answer it anyway. Some excerpts: A Corrupt Election Commission , warns The Economist : "Perhaps the biggest problem is the IEC [Independent Election Commission] itself, a body regarded as so biased towards Mr Karzai and complicit in fraud that some analysts say there is no point in running another vote under its auspices. Martine van Bijlert, of the...

Americans die as military helicopters crash in Afghanistan: PHOTO
Kabul -- In a day of Military tragedy and political drama, 11 American troops and three U.S. civilians died Monday in two helicopter crashes in rural Afghanistan, while President Hamid Karzai and his top political rival escalated their dispute over conditions for holding a runoff election schedu...

Lawmakers split on timing of Afghan decision: PHOTO
Lawmakers spar over the timing of President Barack Obama's decision on how to move ahead in Afghanistan, with Republicans urging a quick move to boost troop levels and Democrats counseling patience.

Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up
Your one stop pundit shop. Eugene Robinson , after spending some quality time slapping Dick Cheney around, says: That said, Afghanistan is Obama's war now ... We invaded Afghanistan to ensure that the country could never again be used to launch attacks against the United States. That mission is accomplished, and our only goal should be making sure it stays accomplished -- whether the place is run by Hamid Karzai or the Taliban. The counterinsurgency campaign that Obama is contemplating looks...

Row erupts over Afghan poll chief
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has rejected a call by rival presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah to sack the head of the Afghan election commission. Mr Abdullah made his demand ahead of a 7 November run-off, after a UN-backed panel threw out first-round votes.

Abdullah Abdullah Backs McChrystal
In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah endorsed General Stanley McChrystal's recommended troop surge, saying "the future of the country is at risk" otherwise. Abdullah, the opposition candidate to current Afghan President Hamid Karzai, appeared on both Fox and CNN's State of the Union, discussing the Nov. 7 runoff election in Afghanistan and the future of his country: "The security situation is deteriorating unfortunately," he told CNN, saying that...

Afghan presidential rivals rule out power-sharing: PHOTO
P resident Hamid Karzai and his challenger ruled out a power-sharing deal before Afghanistan's Nov. 7 runoff, saying the second round of balloting must be held as planned to bolster Democracy this war-ravaged country. Some Obama Administration officials had said the U.S. would be receptive to a deal to avoid another disruptive election if Mr. Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah agreed. However, both Afghan candidates said on Talk Shows televised Sunday in the United States that...

Afghan candidate says 'dramatic' surge needed, backs McChrystal
Afghanistan's opposition candidate backed Gen. Stanley McChrystal's recommendations for more troops Sunday, saying "the future of the country is at risk" without a "dramatic increase" in troop levels. Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who faces off against President Hamid Karzai in a Nov. 7 runoff, said on "Fox News Sunday" that he's also leaving open the possibility of an election boycott if recommendations aren't met to ensure transparency and stem fraud in the second round of...

Officials say Karzai rival may choose to boycott runoff
Kabul -- The challenger to President Hamid Karzai is considering boycotting the upcoming runoff if his demands are not met to remove the leaders of Afghanistan's election commission who he believes are biased against him, campaign officials said Sunday. Despite his public promises that he will participate in the Nov. 7 runoff, Abdullah Abdullah has been discussing the possibility of pulling out, an outcome that could create a new political crisis and throw the legitimacy of any new government...

Afghan president, challenger endorse runoff
Kabul -President Hamid Karzai and his challenger ruled out a power-sharing deal before Afghanistan 's Nov. 7 runoff , saying the second round of balloting must be held as planned to bolster Democracy in this war-ravaged country. Some Obama Administration officials had said the U.S. would be receptive to a deal to avoid another disruptive election if Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah agreed.

Afghan election chief leery of changes for runoff
Kabul, Afghanistan – United Nations diplomats and the chairman of an Afghan election commission are sparring over efforts to curb fraud in the country's Nov. 7 presidential runoff election. U.N. and Western officials want to bolster the Afghan election process in hopes a second round between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah can quickly yield a winner most Afghans accept as legitimate. The diplomats are pressing for several changes, including closing...

Aides say Karzai confident of victory
Kabul, Afghanistan , Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai , a week after accepting a runoff election against rival Abdullah Abdullah , is confident he will win the contest, his aides said. The aides say Karzai has recovered from what may have been seen as humiliation when he accepted the runoff and is now comfortable with the decision and confident he will win, The Washington Post reported. The original uncertified results showed he had won an outright victory in the Aug. 20 Elections...

SPIEGEL Interview with Afghan Candidate Abdullah Abdullah: 'People in Afghanistan Want Change': PHOTO
Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to submit to a run-off election against his challenger Abdullah Abdullah. But many are worried that a second vote might be just as marred by corruption as the first. SPIEGEL spoke with Abdullah about voter Fraud, the need for good governance and the Afghan desire for change. SPIEGEL: Three years ago, Afghan President Hamid Karzai dismissed you as foreign minister. Now you are his rival in the run-off. Do you feel a sense of gratification? Abdullah:...

New York race at epicenter of a GOP mutiny: PHOTO
Reporting from Washington - Silvan Johnson adores Sarah Palin, belongs to a conservative discussion group and fumes at President Obama's spending policies. But when it comes to picking a new congressional representative for her upstate New York district, she is in no mood to help the Republican Party. In fact, Johnson and many other conservatives want to use a Nov. 3 special election to teach the GOP a lesson about sticking to conservative values -- even though that lesson could mean the party...

Karzai rival wants election chief fired
The main challenger to Afghan President Hamid Karzai Monday demanded the removal of the country's election chief and 200 other staffers of the election commission to ensure a fair runoff election.

AFP: 14 Americans dead in Afghan chopper crashes
Kabul — Two helicopter crashes killed 14 American troops and narcotics agents in Afghanistan on Monday in one of the blackest days for the United States since its 2001 invasion, officials said. As anti-US Protests erupted in Kabul over the alleged burning of a Koran, Afghan President Hamid Karzai also questioned Washington's commitment to the war-torn nation ahead of a run-off election in less than a fortnight. Following a first round riddled with fraud, Karzai's presidential rival...