Nothing becomes some men like the leaving of it

Rico says even the doubly-named Abdullah Abdullah could tell it was better for his country (and probably his lifespan) if he bailed on the election in Afghanistan. Dexter Filkins and Alissa Rubin have the story in The New York Times:

Abdullah Abdullah, the chief rival to President Hamid Karzai, plans to announce on Sunday his decision to withdraw from the 7 November run-off election, effectively handing a new five-year term to Mr. Karzai, according to Western diplomats here and people close to Mr. Abdullah.
But Mr. Abdullah seemed to be keeping his options open until the last second, as he has done throughout the Afghan political crisis. Those close to him, speaking on condition of anonymity on Saturday, said he was still trying to decide whether to publicly denounce Mr. Karzai, whom he has accused of stealing the 20 August election, or step down without a fight.
American and other Western diplomatic officials said late Saturday that they were worried that a defiant statement by Mr. Abdullah could lead to violence and undermine the credibility of Mr. Karzai, and they were urging him to bow out gracefully. Obama administration officials have scrambled for weeks to end the deadlock, trying to ensure a credible government as President Obama weighs whether to increase the American military presence in Afghanistan.
People close to Mr. Abdullah said that his representative met with Mr. Karzai on Saturday, but were unable to make any progress on the issue that soured personal talks between the rivals on Thursday: mainly, Mr. Abdullah’s demands that the Afghan election system be overhauled to forestall more fraud in the second round.
Following the first round of voting, a United Nations-backed panel threw out nearly a million ballots— one third of Mr. Karzai’s total— on the grounds that they were fake.