“All your blood and treasure that has been spent in Afghanistan has not been in vain,” a panelist said. (John Kuhn/MEDILL)
WASHINGTON — The success of Afghanistan’s elections on Saturday should reinvigorate the United States’ commitment to the country, several foreign policy experts said Monday.
Despite significant security threats and the killing of at least two dozen people, the estimated voter turnout of about 7 million exceeded expectations in Afghanistan’s first democratic transfer of power. President Hamid Karzai became the country’s leader in 2001; he most recently won re-election in 2009.
“This election should restore a sense of optimism among Americans and it should remind us why the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan in the first place,” said Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Curtis stressed that the election should remind Americans what’s at stake for U.S. national security interests, as well as what could happen if troops are withdrawn too quickly.
“This is a good time for the White House to be clear that it is willing to have at least 10,000 troops after 2014 in the country” in order prevent a resurgence from the Taliban and to effectively train Afghan security forces, Curtis said.
As the Afghan Independent Election Commission continues its tough task of vote counting and investigating claims of fraud, however, Democracy International Director of Programs Jed Ober insisted it’s important not to look too far ahead, that for now patience and transparency are key.
“It’s going to be critical that the candidate campaigns exercise some patience and respect the commission’s process that they have in place determining who won the election,” he said.
Eight candidates ran for the presidency, with three main contenders. Because the winner must achieve more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election may be needed. And even the results of the Saturday vote may take some time to determine.
“It’s very, very important that the commission conduct it’s work diligently, and transparently, and communicate not just with the international community and the local media, but with the candidate campaigns,” Ober said.
Omar Samad, former Afghan ambassador to Canada and France, said because of Saturday’s successful elections, “we can look forward to a reset in relationships with Washington and with others.”
U.S. efforts have not been wasted, Samad said. “All your blood and treasure that has been spent in Afghanistan has not been in vain.”
The election commission is expected to begin releasing preliminary results from the presidential race in the next few days.
