Another Rigged Election

Afghanistan's Harmid Karzai will not have an easy path to re-election, as his main challenger Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is already crying fraud.

The accusations, which Karzai's spokesman denied, are the most direct Abdullah has made against the incumbent in a contest that likely has weeks to go before a winner is proclaimed. Both Abdullah and Karzai claim they are in the lead based on reports from campaign pollwatchers monitoring the count.

Officials of Abdullah's campaign have alleged fraud in several southern provinces where the insurgency is strongest and Karzai had been expected to run strong.

"He uses the state apparatus in order to rig an election," Abdullah said in the interview. "That is something which is not expected."

Abdullah said it "doesn't make the slightest difference" whether Karzai or his supporters ordered the alleged fraud.

"All this happens under his eyes and under his leadership," Abdullah said. "This is under his leadership that all these things are happening, and all those people which are responsible for this fraud in parts of the country are appointed by him. And I'm sure he has all those reports, so he knows all of this. This should have been stopped and could have been stopped by him."

There's evidence of election irregularities in the country, especially in the South. Then again, there's the Taliban killing election workers and attacking polling stations all over the country.

It's hard to have fair and free elections in an environment like that.