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A woman casts her ballot at a polling centre in Herat, western Afghanistan - Source: Reuters -
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Senior US officials said that Afghan presidential challenger
Abdullah Abdullah's decision to quit an election run-off would not
complicate President Barack Obama's deliberations on the war
strategy.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear the Obama
administration would work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai should
he remain the leader of the next government, as seems all but
certain.
"It is now a matter for the Afghan authorities to decide on a way
ahead that brings this electoral process to a conclusion in line
with the Afghan constitution," Clinton said in a statement e-mailed
to reporters while she was travelling in Morocco.
"We will support the next president and the people of Afghanistan,
who seek and deserve a better future."
As Obama weighs whether to approve a request from his top commander
in Afghanistan for a 40,000 increase in US troops, Abdullah's exit
from the November 7 vote threatened to raise doubts about the
legitimacy of Karzai's government.
The Afghanistan war has become unpopular with the American public
as violence there has reached its worst levels since the Taliban
was ousted by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001.
A suicide attack in Kabul last week that killed five United Nations
staff underlined the deterioration in security.
Many of Obama's Democratic allies in Congress are wary of a troop
increase. Some have questioned whether the United States has a
credible partner to work with in the Afghan government.
Abdullah had accused Karzai of not meeting his demand for a fair
vote.
Still unclear is whether the November 7 run-off would go ahead with
Karzai as the only candidate, given the expense that would be
involved in the vote and potential security risks.
Afghan election officials said it would and US officials said it
was up to them.
"It is important that the new government in Kabul be seen as
legitimate. There are different paths to get there. The ultimate
choice is up to the Afghans," said one senior US official.
Dealing with corruption
"We're going to deal with the government that is there and
obviously there are issues we need to discuss, such as reducing the
high level of corruption there," senior Obama adviser David Axelrod
told the CBS program Face the Nation.
Axelrod said that Abdullah made a political decision to quit the
run-off and it was likely he would have been defeated.
"We don't think that it's going to add a complication to the
strategy," Valerie Jarrett, another White House aide, told ABC's
This Week.
In her statement, Clinton urged Abdullah to stay engaged and work
for peace in Afghanistan.
While Obama faces growing Democratic opposition to the war,
Republicans accuse him of dragging out the deliberations over
whether to increase US troops.
"I'm concerned about this delay. I would hope that the president
would make a decision and make it soon," House of Representatives
Republican Leader John Boehner told CNN.
But Boehner agreed with Jarrett and Axelrod that Abdullah's
departure should not have a major effect on the US strategy.
"Dr Abdullah's exit from this race, I think, really says more about
the fact that he knew he wasn't going to win," Boehner said.
Axelrod reiterated that the president would make a decision within
weeks.
A US official said on Saturday that Obama was unlikely to make a
decision on his Afghanistan strategy before he leaves for a 10-day
trip to Asia on November 11.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that
while a decision was unlikely before then, it had not been ruled
out.
General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in
Afghanistan, has recommended deployment of an additional 40,000
troops next year.
Another scenario under consideration could involve adding 10,000 to
15,000 troops, a large portion of whom would be focused on
increasing the training of Afghan forces.
But US officials have said a number of options are under
review.
There are about 67,000 US troops and 42,000 allied forces in
Afghanistan.
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