Month is war's deadliest for U.S.

August Afghan toll hits 45 as drive continues against resurgent Taliban

U.S. Marine Will Betz trains his machine gun Friday on Taliban forces after being shot at during a patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Will Betz trains his machine gun Friday on Taliban forces after being shot at during a patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

— An American service member died Friday when his vehicle struck a bomb in eastern Afghanistan, making August the deadliest month for U.S. forces in the nearly eight-year war.

That mark was reached as the top U.S. commander prepares to submit his assessment of the conflict, a report expected to trigger intense debate on the Obama administration's war strategy.

The latest death was reported as Afghan officials announced an 80 percent increase in the number of major fraud allegations submitted after last week's disputed presidential election.

A brief statement by theNATO command gave few details of the blast and did not say precisely where it occurred. U.S. military spokesman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the service member who died was American. That brought to 45 the number of U.S. service members killed this month in the Afghan war - one more than the previous monthly high, set in July.

Interactive

The Afghan election

Also Friday, a CBS spokesman said a CBS Radio News correspondent covering the recent elections was seriously injured by a bomb in Afghanistan.

Cami McCormick was wounded when the Army vehicle she was riding in struck a bomb south of Kabul on Friday. The network could not confirm the extent of her injuries. Shewas treated at a field hospital, where she was in stable condition after surgery. McCormick was transported to Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, for more treatment.

American casualties have been rising steadily after President Barack Obama's decision to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to combat a resurgent Taliban and train Afghan security forces to assume a greater role in battling the insurgents.

Obama's decision was part of a strategic shift in U.S. military action in Asia: moving resources from Iraq, which had been center stage since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion but where violence has declined sharply from levels of two years ago.

About 62,000 U.S. troops are now in Afghanistan, with 4,000 more due before year's end. That compares with about 130,000 in Iraq, most due to leave next year.

Since the fresh troops began arriving in Afghanistan last spring, U.S. deaths have climbed steadily, from 12 in May to more than 40 for the past two months as American forces have taken the fight to the Taliban, into areas of the country that have long been under insurgent control.

At least 732 U.S. service members have died in the Afghan war since the U.S.-led invasion of late 2001. Nearly 60 percent of those deaths occurred since the Taliban insurgency began to rebound in 2007.

The latest spike in U.S. deaths has raised doubts among the United States and its allies about the course of the war, which was launched by the Bush administration after the Taliban government refused to hand over Osama bin Laden for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.

Meanwhile, NATO's new leader said Friday that the mission in Afghanistan will last "as long as it takes" to ensure that the country is secure.

Thanks in part to an increase in the number of troops, the mission is making a difference in the war-ravaged and poverty-stricken country, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said during a visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara.

But allies still must contribute more, Fogh Rasmussen said, adding that he had asked NATO members including Turkey to help train Afghan soldiers and police.

"The situation is not satisfactory right now, but we have made progress," Fogh Rasmussen said.

"We will stay as long as it takes to secure the country. We will stay committed, we will assist the Afghan people in securing their own country, and therefore we will stay as long as it takes."

The debate over the war isexpected to accelerate when the new top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, submits an assessment of the conflict by the end of this month.

McChrystal, who commanded special operations troops in Iraq, is expected to give a bleak assessment of the war, pointing to deficiencies in the Afghan government and recommending vastly expanding the size of Afghanistan's own security forces.

Those weaknesses in the Afghan government have come into focus since the Aug. 20 presidential election, which produced allegations of widespread fraud, most leveled by opponents of President Hamid Karzai.

Final results are not expected for weeks, but preliminary figures released this week show Karzai leading the 36-candidate field with 44.8 percent of the vote, followed by ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah with 35.1 percent. A runoff must be held if no candidate wins more than50 percent. Abdullah has accused Karzai of rigging the election, a charge the incumbent denies.

On Friday, the U.S. expressed renewed concern about allegations of fraud in election and pressed Afghan officials to respect whatever election results emerge.

"We condemn any acts of fraud," White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said Friday. "It is important that the outcome of these elections reflect the will of the Afghan people."

"Robust mechanisms exist for dealing with incidents of fraud, and we need to be patient and allow those bodies to do their work thoroughly," he said, citing Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission and the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission.

On Friday, the Electoral Complaints Commission said the number of major fraud complaints which could "materiallyaffect" the outcome had soared to 270. On Wednesday, the commission said it had received 150 major complaints, which could delay announcement of the final results.

The allegations so far include ballot stuffing, poor quality ink and intimidation, the commission said, according to a news release on its Web site. The commission has sent investigators to seven provinces where fraud has been alleged, including Kandahar.

For election results to be certified, the commission must adjudicate all of the complaints it has received, a process that could be lengthy given the high number of challenges.

The lengthy election process has added to strains in U.S.-Afghan relations. On Friday, two officials said Karzai angrily accused the U.S. of pushing for a runoff vote during a heated meeting with the special envoy to the region.

According to officials familiar with the encounter, the exchange of words occurred the day after the Aug. 20 vote, during a meeting in Kabul between Karzai and U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke. The officials were briefed about the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Karzai assured Holbrooke that he would accept the election results but bristled when Holbrooke asked whether he would also agree to a runoff.

An angry Karzai accused the U.S. of urging a second round before all votes had been counted. Karzai said he would accept the election commission's tabulation as long as it reflected the facts. He did not elaborate, according to the officials.

The U.S. Embassy confirmed the Aug. 21 meeting and said the two discussed the election but would not go into details.

"There was no shouting, and no one stormed out," said Caitlin Hayden, an embassy spokesman. She noted that Holbrooke and Karzai met again a few days later. Karzai spokesman Humayun Hamidzada also confirmed the meeting but gave no further details.

Karzai enjoyed close ties with the Bush administration, which helped propel him to power after the collapse of the Taliban government in the U.S.-led invasion.

Since the Obama administration took office, U.S. officials have accused Karzai of weak leadership as well as tolerating corruption and a flourishing drug trade.

The New York Times reported this week that the Obama administration is alarmed at the prospect that Karzai's running mate, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, may be linked to the drug trade.

Quoting an unidentified administration official, the newspaper said that if Fahim becomes vice president, the U.S. would likely consider imposing sanctions such as refusing him a U.S. visa or going after his personal finances.

A U.S. official in Washington confirmed the essence of the report, saying there were "a number of individuals" whom the U.S. would not like to see in a future Afghan government. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive subject matter.

Information for this article was contributed from Kabul by Heidi Vogt and Nahal Toosi, from Washington by Matthew Lee, from New York by Monika Mathur, from Ankara, Turkey, by Suzan Fraser of The Associated Press, and from Washington by Janine Zacharia of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 1, 8 on 08/29/2009

Upcoming Events