In the Arena  Afghan Election This Week    • Share   • Read
Later  I’m beginning to hope that Hamid Karzai pulls a Ahmadi-
Khamenei and steals the thing. Yes, he is corrupt and
incompetent. Yes, democracy is a wonderful thing. But too much
democracy, too soon, in a country that is barely governed–see
under Palestine, 2005–can be a toxic disaster. The problem in
Afghanistan is, as the NY Times reports today, Taliban
intimidation of the Pashtun majority population in the south and
east of the country.  Karzai is a Pashtun. His vote could be
depressed to the point where his primary opponent, Abdullah (or
Abdullah Abdullah) comes first or a very close second, forcing a
runoff. Why is that bad? Well, it wouldn’t be, if the election
were perceived as fair and unimpeded on all sides. Abdullah, a
doctor and former foreign minister, is an entirely credible
candidate. He is also of mixed parentage–his father a Pashtun,
his mother a Tajik–and is therefore the favored candidate of the
non-Pashtun north, and that is where