Another high ranking American has become embroiled in the political fallout surrounding the recent elections in Afghanistan.
Earlier in September, it was rumored that Afghan President Karzai and American Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke got into a big argument about just how oily the election actually was. 'However, officials of both Mr. Holbrooke and Mr. Karzai denied reports their talks had been "explosive" and a "dramatic bust-up," ' said the BBC.
Now it's Peter Galbraith, whose views on the legitimacy of the elections have so angered Afghan officials that they had him leave the country. Galbraith had been working for the United Nations at the time. Says the London Times, "America's top diplomat at the United Nations mission in Afghanistan has been ordered out of the country after a row with his boss over how to respond to last month's fraud-riddled presidential elections, it has been alleged. The alleged quarrel is threatening to spark a mutiny within the UN mission." Now it appears he will be removed from his post altogether.
The elections have been tainted by widespread accusations of fraud. Two camps seem to have opened on the subject, one believing that there was a limited amount of fraud and the other believing the fraud was on a massive scale. Galbraith apparently campaigned for a total recount of the ballots cast, despite Karzai's plans for a limited recount.
Galbraith, son of legendary economist John Kenneth Galbraith, is something of an expert on the region, having travelled in and studied the area extensively, even before the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Wikipedia, "Galbraith was a professional staff member for the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1979 to 1993, where he published many reports about Iraq and took a special interest in Kurdistan. In 1987, he uncovered Saddam Hussein's systematic destruction of Kurdish villages and a year later wrote the "Prevention of Genocide Act of 1988" which would have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Iraq because of the gassing of the Kurds."
According to the United Nations, Galbraith's responsibilities in Afghanistan included "political issues, including continuing electoral and parliamentary matters, as well as issues related to peace and stability, security sector reform and human rights."
