–updated–
The voting has begun. Terrific post at World Focus by a Marine regarding the elections, but also check out his blog. Found it via Nick Schifrin on Twitter.
These latest entries won’t be current long, but it gives you an idea of what’s happening right now, via Twitter:
strickvl Only 25% of the number of voters compared to last election say local Kandaharis..
RT @saadmohseni: I just voted. An honor for a citizen of any country. Reports from provinces indicate that everything ok
… .. Couple of dozen girls voting at one female station.. Most non-pashtuns though..
Two explosions heard in Kandahar city..
Lots of people voting at Zahir Shahi High school in Kandahar city.
No girls voting at one of the big female stations in Kandahar city..
pajhwok 85-year-old man carried to polling station on shoulders of his sons and voted, in Nangahar
#Taliban attack in central district of Baghlan province, fight is ongoing
wokVoting is normal in Herat, Mazar, Samangan, Badakshan, Takhar provinces
At the same time, a poll has come out showing that public opinion has gone south on the war in Afghanistan.
When it comes to the baseline question, 42 percent of Americans say the United States is winning in Afghanistan; about as many, 36 percent, say it is losing.
The new poll comes amid widespread speculation that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, will request more troops for his stepped-up effort to remove the Taliban from Afghan towns and villages. That position gets the backing of 24 percent of those polled, while nearly twice as many, 45 percent, want to decrease the number of military forces there. (Most of the remainder want to keep the level about the same.) …
…Among liberals, his rating on handling the war, which he calls one of “necessity,” has fallen swiftly, with strong approval dropping by 20 points. Nearly two-thirds of liberals stand against a troop increase, as do about six in 10 Democrats.
I’m not part of the 6 right now, but my skepticism for any escalation at all remains very strong. However, Peter Bergen’s post on Afghanistan, which takes Stephen M. Walt to the woodshed, offers some reasons why I’m still barely on board.
So the U.S. has already tried the Do Nothing approach and the Do It Light approach in Afghanistan, the results of which are well known. The Obama administration is now attempting a Do It Seriously approach, which has a real chance of success.
If Obama loses people like me on Afghanistan, all he’ll have left is his Blue Dogs.
Comments are closed.