OF1-11/03/09 6:25 AM
AFGHAN LEADER REACHES OUT AFTER RUNOFF CANCELLED.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has been declared the President of Afghanistan, and therefore that is what he is.
So says White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
SOT - Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary
"President Karzai has been declared the winner of the Afghan election, and will head the next government of Afghanistan --- so obviously, he's the legitimate leader of the country."
True, the election was fraught with corruption that required a runoff --- and there was no runoff, because the other candidate wanted no part of it. And, Gibbs acknowledges...
SOT - Robert Gibbs
"We know there are problems related to corruption that have to be addressed, moving forward."
Moving right along, as they say.
SOT - Robert Gibbs
"I don't think there's any reason to believe that the Afghan people won't think this government is a legitimate as it is..."
President Obama put in a phone call to President Karzai yesterday, and to hear him tell it...
SOT - President Barack Obama
"I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter --- based on improved governance, a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption ... He assured me that he understood the importance of this moment. But as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words --- it's going to be in deeds."
President Karzai was emphatic, too --- to hear him tell it.
SOT - Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's President
"My government will be for Afghans --- and all those who want to work with me are most welcome."
And, through an interpreter, called for everyone to follow him to the sunlit uplands...
SOT - Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's President
"The road towards prosperity of Afghanistan is in our national cooperation. With a national unity government, we will bring Afghanistan into the landscape of peace, prosperity, and development."
President Obama says he will work with Karzai. Our Mandy Clark asked Abdullah Abdullah whether he thinks that's possible.
SOT - Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's last challenger - with Mandy Clark, CBS News Correspondent in Kabul
"(Clark:) Does Obama really have a partner here?
(Abdullah:) I think I will leave it with the United States to judge it, because the United States has an experience dealing with the same partner in the past few years. So, this is what it is."
Indeed...
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. November 3rd, 2009. |
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