VasGk | Κοινωνικό Νερό

President Obama paid a surprise visit to the troops in Afghanistan . I am intreaged to contrast and compare with President G.W. Bush surprise visit to Al Asad Airbase in Iraq back in September 3rd, 2007. As you can see there are strark defferences. I wouldn't go as far as this video , but you can understand that Obama is on a campaign mode, speaking to military personel in Afganistan like rallying troops and military families in America. Now that the mid-term campaigns are over, the 2012 Presidential election is getting closer. President Obama is now also Presidential contender Obama. Although Obama has always been on a campaign mode, even as president, switching to a election mode may proven to be tricky. Ceteris paribus the economy will be the main election theme in 2012. But the war strategy, the military families in America, and the outcome of defeating terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere can/ will play a crucial role in, not only gaining votes, but providing result...

From preliminary results 40% to 50% of 15 million registered voters in Afghanistan actually turned up to vote . The total population of Afghanistan is 33.6 million, only 7 million people actually voted, and these people must have been from low or medium risk areas: see the electoral security map on BBC . Citizens that live in areas of Taliban control were probably denied their right to go to the polls. Are these election results accurate under these circumstances? Are these results even statistical valid given the population spread, and war operations in the country? The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan thinks so and the Afghan Electoral Complaints Commission claims to received a total of 433 complaints during the last two months. I am still not convinced. There are also international observers that monitored the elections and will comment on the results, see the UNDP Elect and the UNAMA . I also came across the " International Security Assistance Force ...

Far from formal structured political campaigns in most developed or developing countries, there are other examples of people that start a political campaign from zero, with little or no help (financial or otherwise); more importantly it is excellent when this happens in Afghanistan ; a country at war, with democracy just creeping in to the political system. The upcoming Afghan Presidential election is scheduled for August 20th 2009. I came across this video of an Afghan candidate for President, campaigning on a bicycle. What I really appreciated is the simplicity of his decision to campaign, even if he does not stand a chance to win. But this is a success story that explains how democratic transition can give all citizens the opportunity to stand as candidates and communicate directly with people that will hopefully vote for them. I suppose that web 2.0 technologies and the Internet have nothing to do with this campaign since most people do not have access to the net; the inten...