President Obama said he spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the phone this afternoon, just hours after Karzai was declared the winner in a presidential election in which his main rival dropped out over concerns that the Nov. 7 runoff would be subject to the same fraud that plagued the original Aug. 20 election.
“I congratulated him on his election for a second term as president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” Obama said. “Although the process was messy, I’m pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law.”
The president continued:
I did emphasize to President Karzai that the American people and the international community as a whole want to continue to partner with him and his government in achieving prosperity and security in Afghanistan. But 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, joint efforts to accelerate the training of Afghan security forces so that the Afghan people can provide for their own security. That kind of coordination and a sense on the part of President Karzai that after some difficult years in which there’s been some drift, that in fact he’s going to move boldly and forcefully forward.
“He assured me that he understood the importance of this moment,” Obama said. “But as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words. It’s going to be in deeds.”
