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US presidential race reaches Kabul with Kerry event
The donuts and the donkey suffered in the summer heat, and the man himself was nowhere to be seen, but American Democrats have held one of the most remote gatherings of the US presidential campaign so far with ‘Kabul for Kerry’. Afghanistan’s event lacked the glamour of this week’s star-spangled fundraiser in Hollywood and is unlikely to make any impact on candidate John Kerry’s campaign funds, but organisers are hoping it brings attention to a significant foreign policy issue. “Part of the reason we had this was we thought it was important to show there was support for John Kerry in the far-flung corners of the world,” says organiser Karen Hirschfeld. “Particularly in Afghanistan which should still be a high priority for Americans... given the potential for it to fall back into chaos.”

While efforts to bring Kerry to Afghanistan for the gathering of aid workers, consultants, private contractors and journalists failed, supporters are keen to invite the senator, his as yet unannounced running mate and other team members to the war-scarred capital. “We tried to inform them, we just weren’t able to,” says Hirschfeld, a programme officer for the Asia Foundation, which studies democracy issues. About 60 people turned up for Friday’s breakfast event although US embassy staff were advised against attending for security reasons, in part because it had been widely advertised. Several foreign embassies issued warnings last week that attacks against expatriates were being planned in Kabul. But while US support for involvement in Afghanistan has cut across political parties, the transitional government of President Hamid Karzai has been most strongly connected with Kerry’s opponent, President George W Bush. Under Bush, the US led the offensive which toppled the Taleban regime, allowing Karzai to take power. America leads a coalition force of 20,000 troops fighting Taleban, Al Qaeda and other insurgents in Afghanistan and is also the country’s largest aid donor, recently pledging $2.2bn over the next two years.

Bush is seen as likely to use Afghanistan as an example of good foreign policy during his campaign — especially if historic democratic elections for which Karzai is the frontrunner are held here as planned in September. “Because of the difficulties in Iraq there’s a need for a foreign policy success,” Hirschfeld says. “I think it’s no secret that the US embassy has been putting a lot of pressure for these elections to happen, at least the presidential elections, in September or October.” If the elections, which have been threatened by militants and hit by logistical problems go ahead, Karzai could be installed as Afghanistan’s first democratically-elected president before US polls on November 2. “Afghans in general, whatever good work Karzai has done, think he is principally linked to Bush. So in the world’s eyes if Karzai wins it’s going to be seen as some kind of validation of Bush’s policy,” says Najib Habib, an Afghan attending the event who has lived in the US. “People say ‘You must feel so sad your country is a puppet of the US’... but at least now people have a chance to live a peaceful life.”

Other expatriates feel slightly forgotten, at least by the US media, and think that Afghanistan will not play a central role in US domestic polling. “There’s just not enough press focus on what’s going on here for that to have a big impact,” says Kathy Walsh. In contrast to the Hollywood gala, where guests paid up to $25,000 a head to watch performances by the likes of Barbra Streisand, those attending the Kabul breakfast paid only $10 to cover costs.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-06-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=36568