Gailbraith Letter to Moon Calls Out Corrupt Election Process

A few days ago this site posted a story on the firing of Peter Gailbraith, the U.N special deputy in Afghanistan. You can also read excellent coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Guardian.

The New York Times recently obtained a letter from Gailbraith to U.N Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon. They published excerpts, and I, as a mere blogger, can only publish excerpts of the excerpts- but I picked some sweet spots. As a reminder, the "Kai" referenced throughout is his boss, the U.N point-man in Afghanistan, Kai Eide.

As you know, Kai Eide and I have had prolonged disagreement as to whether UNAMA should take action to prevent or mitigate fraud in the Afghanistan elections...For a long time after the elections, Kai denied that significant fraud had taken place, even going to the extreme of ordering UN staff not to discuss the matter. And, at critical stages in the process, he blocked me and other UNAMA professional staff from taking effective action that might have limited the fraud or enabled the Afghan electoral institutions to address it more effectively.”

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At considerable personal risk, UNAMA field staff collected data on turnout and fraud. Our data showed a miniscule turnout in key Southern Provinces, but these provinces were to report a large number of votes for Karzai. Once it became clear to Kai that the output from our election center would be deeply disturbing to President Karzai, he ordered the staff not to share the data with anyone, including the Afghan institutions charged with preserving the integrity of the electoral process.

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Shortly after the elections, Kai told President Karzai that “I am biased” in your favor and that “those who are out to get you are also out to get me.” When I asked Kai about this, he explained that being biased did not mean he was supporting Karzai and I accept that explanation. But, I am not sure President Karzai sees it that way. Kai also told me the “those” referred to Ambassador Holbrooke. I think this was an inappropriate conversation for the SRSG to have with the head of state and, in the context, likely interpreted as meaning that UNAMA did not share the concerns Holbrooke was then raising about electoral fraud.