Afghan Idol Turns to Politics
Farida Tarana, the first female contestant from the conservative province of Herat to compete on "Afghan Star," the country's version of "American Idol," won a seat on the Kabul Provincial Council.
All Blog Posts from World Watch
Read all 'election' posts in World Watch
October 7, 2009 9:51 AM
September 9, 2009 10:09 AM
U.S. Treads Lightly on Alleged Afghan Fraud
Allegations of fraud in the Afghan election have left the Obama administration in a tight spot, reports the New York Times. Accusations of ballot-stuffing and phantom polling stations will undermine President Hamid Karzai's legitimacy if he is sworn in for another term - which seems likely - and will decrease his credibility among Afghans and the international community.
August 27, 2009 2:50 PM 
Everyone said it wouldn’t be perfect. The Afghan elections could never be free, thanks to the Taliban threats and intimidation, but there was a hope it might be fair. Perhaps wishful thinking in a country riddled with corruption.
The two main contenders jockeying for presidency, the incumbent President Hamid Karzai and the former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah have both accused each other of vote rigging.
Just over 17 percent of the votes have been counted showing Karzai with 42.3 percent and Abdullah on 33.1 percent.
Grim Milestone Nears for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
Karzai, Rival Nearly Even in Afghan Vote
Violence as Votes are Counted
But the Election Complaints Commission received nearly 800 allegations of fraud on polling day alone. Over 40 were serious enough to affect the outcome of the vote and required immediate investigation.
On top of that, the people counting the ballots are viewed as less than independent. The members of the Independent Election Commission were hand picked by President Karzai.
And now as partial results drip-feed in, Afghans are left to await the announcement of the winner. On the streets of Kabul, it’s become a guessing game of what will happen next and speculation is certainly an art form to Afghans.
Ahmad, a tailor, suggested the next step should be to divide the country in half: North and South. “Abdullah can have the North, Karzai the South,” he said, roughly splitting the country along tribal lines.
Though I pointed out the creation of Pakistan in 1948 lead to a bloodbath along the India-Pakistan border, he simply shrugged and said, “we are used to death.”
I asked an Afghan woman if there was evidence of serious vote-rigging would Afghans protest? The woman, who wouldn’t give her name, seemed bemused, she told me she didn’t vote and she felt protesting would be as useless as voting itself.
Hopelessness is the most dangerous outcome to this election. Many in the international community want Afghans to believe in the democractic process, anything else would make a mockery of 5 million Afghans who risked their lives to go out and vote.
Afghanistan's Imperfect Election
(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
The two main contenders jockeying for presidency, the incumbent President Hamid Karzai and the former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah have both accused each other of vote rigging.
Just over 17 percent of the votes have been counted showing Karzai with 42.3 percent and Abdullah on 33.1 percent.
Grim Milestone Nears for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
Karzai, Rival Nearly Even in Afghan Vote
Violence as Votes are Counted
But the Election Complaints Commission received nearly 800 allegations of fraud on polling day alone. Over 40 were serious enough to affect the outcome of the vote and required immediate investigation.
On top of that, the people counting the ballots are viewed as less than independent. The members of the Independent Election Commission were hand picked by President Karzai.
And now as partial results drip-feed in, Afghans are left to await the announcement of the winner. On the streets of Kabul, it’s become a guessing game of what will happen next and speculation is certainly an art form to Afghans.
Ahmad, a tailor, suggested the next step should be to divide the country in half: North and South. “Abdullah can have the North, Karzai the South,” he said, roughly splitting the country along tribal lines.
Though I pointed out the creation of Pakistan in 1948 lead to a bloodbath along the India-Pakistan border, he simply shrugged and said, “we are used to death.”
I asked an Afghan woman if there was evidence of serious vote-rigging would Afghans protest? The woman, who wouldn’t give her name, seemed bemused, she told me she didn’t vote and she felt protesting would be as useless as voting itself.
Hopelessness is the most dangerous outcome to this election. Many in the international community want Afghans to believe in the democractic process, anything else would make a mockery of 5 million Afghans who risked their lives to go out and vote.
August 18, 2009 5:39 AM 
The BBC reported Tuesday that voting cards are being sold in vast quantities and cash payments being used to buy votes ahead of Thursday's presidential election in Afghanistan.
An Afghan working undercover for the British network was offered at least one thousand voting cards for just $10 each, according to the BBC's report.
There have also been questions over official endorsements of candidates by high-profile figures of questionable repute and illegal campaigning by government workers, said the BBC report.
One such high-profile figure, whose endorsement of incumbent President Hamid Karzai has raised further questions over the Afghan leader's interest in improving the country's human rights record, is the notorious warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Afghan Election Brings Fraud, Warlords
(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
An Afghan working undercover for the British network was offered at least one thousand voting cards for just $10 each, according to the BBC's report.
There have also been questions over official endorsements of candidates by high-profile figures of questionable repute and illegal campaigning by government workers, said the BBC report.
One such high-profile figure, whose endorsement of incumbent President Hamid Karzai has raised further questions over the Afghan leader's interest in improving the country's human rights record, is the notorious warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.
August 17, 2009 12:06 PM 
U.S. president Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan proclaimed Monday that the Taliban has failed in its attempt to derail this Thursday’s crucial presidential election, which is widely seen as an essential step to lay the basis for a U.S.-supported democratic framework in the central Asian country.
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who is currently in Pakistan to discuss a host of issues including security affairs related to blocking the advance of the Taliban in the Pak-Afghan region, said the Taliban appeared to be "throwing everything they have into this current effort to disrupt the elections" though without success.
Speaking to a small group of journalists, Holbrooke said a recent escalation in casualties across Afghanistan was part of a "ferocious offensive by the Taliban, designed to kill the elections. Their goal is to prevent the elections and they have failed in that."
U.S. Envoy: Taliban Can't Stop Afghan Elections
(AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who is currently in Pakistan to discuss a host of issues including security affairs related to blocking the advance of the Taliban in the Pak-Afghan region, said the Taliban appeared to be "throwing everything they have into this current effort to disrupt the elections" though without success.
Speaking to a small group of journalists, Holbrooke said a recent escalation in casualties across Afghanistan was part of a "ferocious offensive by the Taliban, designed to kill the elections. Their goal is to prevent the elections and they have failed in that."
August 4, 2009 11:10 AM 
Iranians are bracing themselves for more street violence Wednesday, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.
The country's reform movement intends to demonstrate outside Parliament tomorrow to protest the swearing-in of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) for a second term as President. Reformers believe he stole victory in a rigged election on June 12, and has no right to take office.
Iranian Reformists to Protest Swearing-in
(AP Photo/ISNA)
The country's reform movement intends to demonstrate outside Parliament tomorrow to protest the swearing-in of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) for a second term as President. Reformers believe he stole victory in a rigged election on June 12, and has no right to take office.
July 30, 2009 11:46 AM
U.S. on Hunt for Taliban Weapons
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark is embedded with U.S. soldiers trying to secure eastern Afghanistan ahead of next month's presidential elections.
Running off a Chinook with a camera rolling and carrying a heavy backpack is a skill I never thought I would have to master. But as an embedded reporter with Task Force Yukon's Dog Company in Eastern Afghanistan, it's one I learned quickly.
There has been a barrage of air assaults around the city of Khowst as part of a pre-election surge. The goal of these missions is to disrupt insurgent activity planned for the upcoming elections.
On the first mission I joined, the platoon searched a village for suspected Taliban insurgents and weaponry. They also took fingerprints and eye scans on willing male villagers in case they are involved in setting up roadside bombs. 1st Lt. Nick D'La Rotta with the 25th infantry division explained roadside bombs are the main threat in this region and experts "can get fingerprints off of that, so you can detain them."
Running off a Chinook with a camera rolling and carrying a heavy backpack is a skill I never thought I would have to master. But as an embedded reporter with Task Force Yukon's Dog Company in Eastern Afghanistan, it's one I learned quickly.
There has been a barrage of air assaults around the city of Khowst as part of a pre-election surge. The goal of these missions is to disrupt insurgent activity planned for the upcoming elections.
On the first mission I joined, the platoon searched a village for suspected Taliban insurgents and weaponry. They also took fingerprints and eye scans on willing male villagers in case they are involved in setting up roadside bombs. 1st Lt. Nick D'La Rotta with the 25th infantry division explained roadside bombs are the main threat in this region and experts "can get fingerprints off of that, so you can detain them."
July 30, 2009 6:47 AM 
Witnesses tell news agencies that Iranian police have arrested at least four people and prevented Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi from attending a ceremony Thursday afternoon at a Tehran cemetery marking the 40 day anniversary of 27-year-old Neda Agha Soltan's death.
Unidentified witnesses told the Associated Press that hundreds of police surrounded Mousavi as he tried to approach the grave of Soltan, whose widely publicized shooting amid postelection violence fueled the opposition movement. The AP reports that Mousavi was forced to leave the cemetery but hundreds others gathered to mourn Soltan and others killed in the violence were allowed to stay.
Web sites affiliated with the opposition movement reported earlier Thursday that Mousavi and fellow presidential opposition candidate Mehdi Karoubi would attend the gathering at Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, which coincides with other planned memorials and "silent wave" demonstrations across Iran.
The gathering at a Tehran cemetery, which is coincides with other planned memorials and "silent wave" demonstrations across Iran, is also meant to honor the other victims of the unrest in the Islamic Republic following the contentious June 12 election which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reelected in an apparent landslide.
Opposition candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who reportedly plan to attend the ceremony at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, insist the election results were based on wide-spread fraud and rigging — with the collusion of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mousavi and his backers applied last weekend for a permit to hold the cemetery memorial on Thursday — the anniversary of Neda's widely publicized death — but there was no indication the government had consented, setting the stage for yet another possible confrontation between Iranian security forces and opposition supporters.
Mousavi Reportedly Blocked from Neda Memorial
(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Unidentified witnesses told the Associated Press that hundreds of police surrounded Mousavi as he tried to approach the grave of Soltan, whose widely publicized shooting amid postelection violence fueled the opposition movement. The AP reports that Mousavi was forced to leave the cemetery but hundreds others gathered to mourn Soltan and others killed in the violence were allowed to stay.
Web sites affiliated with the opposition movement reported earlier Thursday that Mousavi and fellow presidential opposition candidate Mehdi Karoubi would attend the gathering at Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, which coincides with other planned memorials and "silent wave" demonstrations across Iran.
The gathering at a Tehran cemetery, which is coincides with other planned memorials and "silent wave" demonstrations across Iran, is also meant to honor the other victims of the unrest in the Islamic Republic following the contentious June 12 election which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reelected in an apparent landslide.
Opposition candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who reportedly plan to attend the ceremony at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, insist the election results were based on wide-spread fraud and rigging — with the collusion of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mousavi and his backers applied last weekend for a permit to hold the cemetery memorial on Thursday — the anniversary of Neda's widely publicized death — but there was no indication the government had consented, setting the stage for yet another possible confrontation between Iranian security forces and opposition supporters.
July 29, 2009 5:10 AM 
CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark is embedded with U.S. soldiers trying to secure eastern Afghanistan ahead of next month's presidential elections.
Operation Champion Sword is a pre-election surge of U.S. and Afghan forces in the country's volatile eastern border region. The goal is to disrupt insurgents planning attacks during the elections scheduled for August 20.
It's all happening around Khowst, one of Afghanistan's biggest cities along the border with Pakistan and a key target for suicide attacks by Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants.
The daily operations consist of precisely targeted, in-and-out missions by small groups of soldiers. The targets are pinpointed by intelligence agencies and can include militant safe-havens, weapons caches or bomb-making facilities.
GIs Hunt Taliban Ahead of Afghan Elections
(AP Photo/Ahmad Masoud)
Operation Champion Sword is a pre-election surge of U.S. and Afghan forces in the country's volatile eastern border region. The goal is to disrupt insurgents planning attacks during the elections scheduled for August 20.
It's all happening around Khowst, one of Afghanistan's biggest cities along the border with Pakistan and a key target for suicide attacks by Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants.
The daily operations consist of precisely targeted, in-and-out missions by small groups of soldiers. The targets are pinpointed by intelligence agencies and can include militant safe-havens, weapons caches or bomb-making facilities.
July 27, 2009 4:05 PM 
The father of a 24-year-old Iranian arrested during an election demonstration claims his son, seen left, was killed in Evin prison, according to a report on the Human Rights Activists News Agency's Persian Website.
Ali Javadi says his son, Amir Javadi Langroudi, was injured by the Basiji militia during a July 18 demonstration. According to Javadi, his son was taken to Evin prison after recovering from his injuries in the hospital. Some time after the transfer, Javadi says he was called by prison officials and told to come pick up his son's body.
In a letter, Javadi says: "My son who had just lost his mother was far from the political currents and only was in love with his country."
Dad: Son Killed in Iran Prison
(Human Rights Activists News Agency)
Ali Javadi says his son, Amir Javadi Langroudi, was injured by the Basiji militia during a July 18 demonstration. According to Javadi, his son was taken to Evin prison after recovering from his injuries in the hospital. Some time after the transfer, Javadi says he was called by prison officials and told to come pick up his son's body.
In a letter, Javadi says: "My son who had just lost his mother was far from the political currents and only was in love with his country."
