Voter fraud in Afghanistan; situation in Afghanistan "serious and deteriorating"; North-South Korea meeting; new Pakistani Taliban leader; Netanyahu visits Europe; and more

Top of the Agenda: Fraud Claims in Afghanistan

Mounting claims of voter intimidation and fraud (WSJ) are tainting the legitimacy of last week's presidential elections in Afghanistan and threatening Western hopes that the poll would boost the government's credibility. The Electoral Complaints Commission, an independent body, said it has received 225 complaints of fraud, voter intimidation, and violence. Preliminary results are due to be released Tuesday, but millions of ballots have not yet arrived in Kabul, NPR reports.

Al-Jazeera broadcasted Taliban footage of militants stopping Afghans at a checkpoint to see if they had voted and abducting those who had. Another report says Taliban insurgents cut off the fingers (Quqnoos), marked in ink as proof they had voted, of two Afghans in Kandahar province. Ahead of the vote, the group attempted to derail the election, pledging violence against anyone who participated.

Separately, U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan told U.S. special representative to the region Richard Holbrooke that the current number of U.S. troops in the country is insufficient for effectively fighting the Taliban (NYT).

In an interview with CNN (Bloomberg), the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said the situation in Afghanistan is "serious and it is deteriorating." On NBC's Meet the Press, Mullen said the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan need to "turn this thing around from a security standpoint" in the next twelve to eighteen months.

Analysis:
In an interview with CFR, Elizabeth Rubin, a journalist who has reported extensively on Afghanistan, says U.S. officials must become more closely involved in improving Afghan governance.

Background:
A CFR timeline tracks the history of the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan.

The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism looks at the 213 percent spike in U.S. media coverage of Afghanistan since July 2009.

PACIFIC RIM: North-South Koreas Meet

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met with a North Korean delegation visiting Seoul to mourn former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. This was the first such meeting (Korea Times) between the two Koreas in almost two years. North Korean officials delivered a message to Lee from their leader Kim Jong-Il, in which Kim declared his desire to improve relations between the countries.

Australia: The World Wildlife Fund called on the Australian government to reassess a $50 billion project (ABC News) that would authorize drilling along the coast of western Australia after an oilrig accident caused a major oil spill in the Timor Sea.

-New Pakistani Taliban leader.
-Netanyahu visits Europe.

 For the full Council on Foreign Relations daily news brief, go to cfr.org