U.S. pressured Abdullah Abdullah to withdraw from presidential race

November 7, 10:45 AMForeign Policy ExaminerAimee Kligman

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Abdullah in Kabul

Why did the man who accused Karzai of corruption and contested the Afghan presidential election results as fraudulent voluntarily withdraw from what was to be this weekend's run-off election?

According to one report by CBS, Abdullah said 'he made his decision after Karzai turned down his demands for changes to the Independent Election Commission and other measures that he said would prevent massive fraud, which marred the first round of balloting on Aug. 20.'

However, an Asia Times report tells a different story. According to their report which was online yesterday, Abdullah Abdullah was pressured by the U.S. to withdraw from the race in order to put in place an American/Pakistani strategy that would allow the U.S to leave Afghanistan without 'losing face'. The Pakistani army, who views  Abdullah as pro-Indian, has agreed to mediate between the Taliban and the U.S. so as to produce this face saving exit strategy.

Apparently, this was decided during Secretary of State Clinton's 3-day visit to Pakistan last week. Clinton's visit to Pakistan, which was widely covered by the press as a failure, may not have been a failure at all. She seemed to have arrived at the nick of time as Pakistan continues to battle the Taliban. And President Obama is deliberating the idea of increasing troop levels in Aghanistan.

In exchange for the Abdullah withdrawal, the U.S. has loosely promised him the position of 'Chief Executive Officer' which translates into a vice-presidential post within the Karzai administration. The U.S. also agreed to support another five-year term for President Karzai.

The agreement between Pakistan and the U.S. may also help defuse some of the anger voiced by the Pakistani army over the Kerry-Lugar bill.

For more info:

   Afghanistan and the delusions which perpetuate U.S. errors

  Afghan elections: Karzai main rivals have their say on CNN