By Sami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau
Hamid Karzai probably would have won Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election even without the widespread fraud that led a U.N.-backed electoral watchdog to throw out a third of his votes. And he will almost certainly win the runoff scheduled for Nov. 7. But Western efforts to force a fairer vote could leave Karzai deeply, if not fatally, compromised in the eyes of most Afghans. After this summer's contested election, the U.S. and its allies embarked on a relentless arm-twisting campaign to get Karzai to accede to a runoff, which included a visit from Sen. John Kerry and stern phone calls from President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The dressing-down eventually worked--but it came at a high price. According to one presidential aide who asked to speak anonymously, Karzai found the tactics so "rude" that he even considered resigning. One of his allies, Parliament member Aryan Yoon, called the international campaign tantamount to "a foreign coup." As a result, although Karzai will probably win the upcoming vote, many experts fear he'll seem far more fragile to ordinary Afghans. "He has been weakened, being visibly bullied by foreigners," admits one of his aides. That could prove debilitating at a time when Afghanistan needs a tough and credible leader more than ever.
