U.S. Announces permanent occupation of Afghanistan, pipeline construction begins

"This was an extraordinary day for the Afghan people, and this election is going to be judged legitimate. I'm just certain of it," thus speaking on behalf of George W. Bush, Condie Rice kicked off the administration's spin campaign to make us all believe that, after centuries of some of the fiercest tribal warfare on the planet, Afghanistan has now embraced the almighty's gift of freedom.



Hamid Karzai, the U.S.'s hand picked Prime Minister, received a majority of the votes in Afghanistan's novel election. However, as is so often the case with the Bush administration, reality is somewhat at odds with the official proclamation:

Karzai was the only one of the 16 candidates remaining on the ballot by the end of the election as all of his challengers withdrew when their calls for a postponement were rejected after massive ballot fraud became apparent during the day.



A "fool-proof" plan to prevent fraud involving the use of indelible ink marks on voters' thumbs fell apart when a number of provinces were provided with washable ink instead. (The inking procedure itself was a stop-gap measure after it became apparent that many Afghanis were registering more than once and that Karzai had ordered more than three times as many ballots printed as there were eligible voters.)



Karzai was the only candidate who was flown around the country from one campaign stop to another in a U.S. helicopters with security provided by the U.S. military.

Nevertheless, after having spent more than $200 million on the Afghani election, George W. Bush can now claim "mission accomplished" in the first front in his war on terror, and the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan can become permanent thus clearing the way for the construction of the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline.



The Age (Australia) - Fraud claims fuel election doubts



BBC (UK) - Central Asia pipeline deal signed