Karzai Wins

Agence France-Presse reports that Hamid Karzai has won outright victory in Afghanistan's first presidential election.

As soon as Karzai's tally passed four million ballots, of an estimated eight million cast, Karzai's aides claimed victory. Karzai's chief rival, Yunus Qanooni, was swift to acknowledge Karzai's majority.

With 94 percent of ballots counted, Karzai had 4,219,569 votes at the latest tally or 55.3 percent of the estimated total vote compared with Qanooni's 16.2 percent.

Karzai's victory is still unofficial. An official declaration of results is still days away. According to United Nations spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva:

The last vote must be counted and a panel probing alleged fraud must submit its findings before the result and victor can be declared.

Afghanistan's election was a crucial step in the country's journey to democracy after decades of violent rule that has successively seen communists, the Soviet Union, warlords, and the Taliban brutalize this poor country. The fact that the election was held is a great victory in the war against terrorism. That Karzai's chief rival Qanooni has acknowledge that Karzai won represents an even greater victory and offers hope that Afghanistan will develop a democratic tradition.

I agree with Ed Morrissey that without Qanooni's acceptance of the democratically-achieved result Afghanistan's fledgling democracy could not survive.