Clinton: No troop decision until Afghan election solved

The Obama administration is unlikely to make a decision about additional troop deployments to Afghanistan until the war-torn state resolves its election standoff, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

Her message arrives less than a day after The Washington Post revealed a classified report by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, in which the commander indicated the U.S. mission to Afghanistan "will likely result in failure" unless the president commits more military forces.

"I mean we constantly are saying what's working, what's not working, so it is both fundamental and it is thorough and thoughtful," Clinton said in an interview with PBS' NewsHour. "We're not going to make any decisions of any significance until we know the outcome of this election."

Afghanistan's presidential contest -- completed Aug. 20 -- has become a political quandary in both Kabul and Washington. Although President Hamid Karzai was pronounced the winner, election supervisors estimate about 20 percent of all ballots cast are suspicious, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. A recount is currently underway.

At the same time, the election turmoil has emboldened lawmakers' calls for increased troop deployments to the war-torn state. Buttressing their case this week is Gen. McChrystal's report, which predicted a lukewarm commitment to fighting Afghanistan's insurgency "risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."

Clinton, however, downplayed McChrystal's remarks during her interview on Tuesday. Rather, she said, "there are many other considerations that [the United States has] to take into account."

"Without referencing General McChrystal's report, because it is classified, let me just say that we know, including our military colleagues, that good governance is key to whether or not what we do has positive results, she said. "We know that getting it right in Pakistan and along the border is critical"

"So there's not just one decision point, number of troops," she added. "It is part of a broader understanding of, what are our true goals? How best can we move toward achieving them?"