It was always unclear whether the decision to call a second round in the rigged election in Afghanistan would lend any lustre to a process tainted in its very origins. Now, with the proclamation of Hamid Karzai as president following the withdrawal of his main opponent, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, we shall never know.

President Karzai’s election – assisted by about 1m fraudulent votes in a poll that was voided by the insurgency across swathes of the country – does nothing to provide Afghanistan with the legitimate government the country and its allies so desperately need.