By Ravi Bhatia – Talk Radio News Service

Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., told Talk Radio News Service Monday that it would be a mistake for the United States to scale back its military efforts in Afghanistan after Hamid Karzai was declared President for another term by Afghanistan’s election commission.

“The whole election debacle was a setback for international efforts in Afghanistan,” Curtis said in a telephone interview. “That said, U.S stakes in the region are far too high to allow the imperfect election to cause us to think about scaling back the mission there.”

Karzai’s competitor, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of the race Sunday, citing the risk of voter fraud.

General Stanley McChrystal has requested 44,000 more troops in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is expected to adopt a military strategy in the coming weeks.

Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., says that she learned from NATO commanders in Afghanistan that they do not have enough resources in Afghanistan to win the war, and that the war strategy has been successful in regions supplied with enough troops. (0:30)

 

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Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., says that the confirmation of controversial Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai’s re-election Monday leaves the United States with “no choice” but to deal with Karzai’s alleged corruption and help him “improve his record.” (0:19)

 

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Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., says that Afghan presidential hopeful Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the run-off election because he must have realized from the first round of the presidential race in August that current President Hamid Karzai would win “in any case.” (0:17)

 

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Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., says that the United States should urge Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reign in corruption and establish a stronger cabinet.

Karzai was declared President by Afghanistan’s election commission Monday after his competitor, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of the race citing risk of voter fraud. (0:32)

 

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Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., says it would be a mistake for the United States to scale back its military efforts in Afghanistan. (0:28)

 

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