Tough decisions

This week, we look at views on the leadership problems in Afghanistan, health care in the US, as well as the need to enlarge EU membership to include the western Balkans.

An acceptable partner

Finding what Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's chief of staff, calls “an acceptable Afghan partner” has proved difficult, writes The Guardian. Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai faces a second ballot after the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission confirmed that 1.3 million votes cast in favour of Karzai in the presidential election were faked.

There is an alternative to the corrupt government of President Hamid Karzai. It appoints governors, reviews their performance, replaces them if necessary, appoints courts that deliver swift justice, levies taxes and hires a conscript army. The snag is, it is run by the Taliban. …

Bigger and better

Critics of Barack Obama’s health care plan fear a government takeover of health care. But there is a lot to be said for such a plan, writes The New York Times.

In the debate over health care reform, no issue has produced more fury and sound bites than the question of whether to include a government-run insurance plan. It is not indispensable, and its role would be limited. Even so, we strongly support inclusion of a public option — the bigger and stronger the better. That is the best way to give consumers more choices, inject more competition into insurance markets, hold down the cost of insurance policies, and save money for the federal budget. …

Go east

Now that the battle over the Lisbon Treaty is at last coming to an end, the EU should turn to its real job of spreading prosperity and democracy, writes the Financial Times. It should begin by enlarging membership to include the western Balkans.

… The western Balkans are already inside the EU’s eastern borders. Through the already very costly provision of economic aid and a large military presence, the Union, along with its allies, is trying to put a political roof on the Balkans. Its success is provisional, little more than keeping the lid on frozen conflicts. This ethnically and religiously mixed-up region does not fit easily into neat nation-states — even after the violent population transfers of the civil wars of the 1990s. It needs the multinational umbrella of EU membership. …