Election limbo concerns U.S.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Afghanistan's election crisis could leave that country without a leader for a long time, a prospect raising concern in the United States, a U.S. official said.

If the process goes into a runoff, it may not be completed before next spring, and the onset of harsh winter would further complicate U.S. President Barack Obama's Afghan policies, The New York Times reported.

With the elections marred by mounting complaints of voter fraud, which must be resolved before the winner is certified by the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission, all suspicious votes will likely be tossed out.

If that happens, President Hamid Karzai, the winner based on uncertified results, could be forced into a runoff against his nearest rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

The Times report said U.S. officials are worried a runoff cannot be held before the November start of winter.

But a delay until next spring would come at a time when the Obama administration confronts escalating Taliban violence in Afghanistan and rising skepticism at home about committing more U.S. troops in that country, the report said.

"We are well aware that we have 12 to 18 months to start to show progress," a senior administration official told The Times. "The clock starts to run out after that."

"There is an exquisite dilemma here," Bruce Riedel at the Brookings Institution told The Times. He said a runoff would be preferable to a discredited first-round Karzai win, but if the vote is put off until next spring, the administration would have to deal with interim leaders who would be much less helpful in promoting U.S. priorities.