U.S. envoy warns of imperfect election

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) — President Barack Obama’s special envoy said Friday that Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential contest will be imperfect, but the country cannot be held to a democratic standard that even the U.S. struggles to achieve.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, reported two more American service members died in combat, adding to what has already been the deadliest month for U.S. and international forces since they invaded the country eight years ago. A third soldier was reported killed in a clash Friday in eastern Afghanistan, but officials would not disclose the nationality pending notification of kin.

Richard Holbrooke’s trip to this central Afghan province coincided with President Hamid Karzai’s first election rally in Kabul ahead of the Aug. 20 ballot. Karzai praised the role of foreign troops but promised that rules governing their presence will change if he wins re-election.

“Elections here will be imperfect,” Holbrooke said between briefings at a military base run by Polish and U.S. troops. “But I am an American who lived through an imperfect election eight years ago. I am not going to hold Afghanistan to standards which even the United States does not achieve.”

“What we want is an election that reflects the legitimate will of the Afghan people, and whoever wins, the international community will support,” he added.

With insurgency threatening large areas of the country, there are fears that not enough voters will participate in the polls for the results to be accepted — especially among the Pashtuns, the dominant ethnic group that forms the majority of the Taliban. Karzai is a Pashtun.

At the rally, Karzai shook hands and promised supporters he would hold NATO and U.S. troops accountable for actions that harm or ignore the rights of Afghan citizens, including killing civilians, raiding private homes and detaining people without charge.

Karzai has done little campaigning in the run-up to the elections but is leading a crowded field of 41 candidates. He has sent representatives to most campaign events and bowed out of a televised debate Thursday with his two closest competitors. The other two candidates went on with the debate next to his empty podium.

During the Friday rally, about 3,000 people — men wearing turbans and vests and some women in headscarves — crammed into an assembly tent in western Kabul to hear Karzai.

The president said there had been many improvements in Afghanistan during his rule, noting that there are more roads, hospitals and schools than when he came to power eight years ago.