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Afghanistan needs a unity government and involvement of regional players

The messy spectacle of the Afghan election has finally wound down, ending on a less than ideal note. With main rival Abdullah Abdullah withdrawing and the run-off election's subsequent cancellation, current president Hamid Karzai has won a second term. His problems, however, may just be beginning. Abdullah's withdrawal has left Karzai in an even shakier position than he was before the decision to have run-off elections. His government's legitimacy is in tatters as there are serious legal concerns about its right to rule.

In such a vitiated environment, US president Barack Obama's job will become that much harder when he takes a call on whether to send additional troops to Afghanistan or...