Obama's Afghan Hopes Meet Reality - Jim Hoagland, Washington Post opinion.
The aftermath of Afghanistan's elections has been uglier and more consequential than the campaign that preceded the voting. It has become clear that President Hamid Karzai's bid for reelection was tainted by widespread fraud, a development that represents the Obama administration's first significant failure in foreign affairs...
The disputed elections are not simply a political embarrassment. They pose significant questions about the new US counterinsurgency strategy of population protection, which was initially keyed to clearing areas contested by the Taliban - largely the Pashtun-inhabited southern region - to enable people there to vote freely.
But even in many of the "cleared" villages, Afghans refused to come out to vote, apparently fearing that in a matter of weeks or months the Taliban would seep back into their zones and seek vengeance on those who went to the polls...
More at The Washington Post.