Voting "present"... yet again

In some dark, sulphurous corner of hell... former presidential press secretary Ron Ziegler is laughing his lyin' ass off...

- QUESTION: Well, but I – no, it’s actually not legitimacy that I was asking about. I was asking if it was – if you have a now – if this result leaves you with a – gives you a credible partner to work with in Afghanistan. Whether it’s legitimate or not, whether the rules were followed or not, do you think this result gives you a credible partner?

- MR. KELLY: I think what we’ve seen is a process that was very difficult, that was conducted according to laws that were laid down by the government and legislature of Afghanistan. And these were the first-ever totally Afghan-run elections.

- QUESTION: I understand all that, but do you – does this result leave you with a credible partner? Or are you not prepared to say?

- MR. KELLY: We are there – we are in Afghanistan to support Afghanistan in its efforts to establish, for the first time in decades, security and institutions that will support the Afghan people. And this is what we’re going to do going forward. As I said, the important thing is that this has been done completely in accordance with the laws and institutions, and the institutions have worked.

- QUESTION: No, I just want to – well, I just want to make sure that I understand. You are not prepared to say that you have – that this result gives you a credible partner in Afghanistan?

- MR. KELLY: I’m – what I’ll say is I’m – we’re prepared to work with this partner who was elected according to Afghan laws in an election that was conducted by Afghan institutions. And we have a big stake in Afghanistan. The international community has a big stake in Afghanistan. And we stand ready to support them as they go forward.

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