Karzai critic gets the boot from his UN Afghan job
Peter Galbraith, deputy UN special rep for Afghanistan and the highest-ranking American who worked for the UN there has been pulled out. One day after SG Ban Ki-moon was praising Galbraith at a news conference, he’s toast because of irreconcilable personal differences with his boss, Kai Eide. The two have been at loggerheads for some time and their struggle came to a head over the vote recount after the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential election. Mr. Galbraith demanded a total recount, but then left Afghanistan and retreated to his Vermont farm. Abdullah Abdullah, runner up in the election, would face Karzai again if a recount and fraud review led to a runoff. “By firing someone like Peter Galbraith from his post, it is the first sign that fraud is victorious over the law,” said Salih Mohammad Registani, the deputy campaign manager for Mr. Abdullah. Mr. Galbraith has been close for years to Richard C. Holbrooke, Obama’s special envoy to the region, and his appointment had been seen as a way of improving coordination between American and UN efforts. That worked well.
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