Clinton: We'll Support Next Afghan Leader

Despite international attention, officials in Washington met the recent shakeup in the Afghan elections with a shrug. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accepted Abdullah Abdullah's decision to drop out of the runoff race and quickly urged leaders there to resolve the election quickly. "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, a week after she and John Kerry and other influential American leaders lobbied for President Hamid Karzai to accept the runoff. Polls indicated that Abdullah would lose the runoff, and Clinton announced Sunday that Washington would support whomever the next Afghan president will be. The administration also promised that the fracas would not disturb the U.S. promise to send more troops to the area. Top adviser David Axelrod said that he expected President Obama to make a decision on whether to send approximately 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan "within weeks."