ONWARD

Obama to Karzai: Congrats

Trumpets “new chapter” after “messy” election.

Despite challenger Abdullah Abdullah pulling out of the Afghan presidential race just one day ago, the dust in Afghanistan is already settling. President Hamid Karzai was officially declared victor on Monday, and President Obama has already phoned in his congratulations. The president acknowledged that the election process had been "messy," but expressed that he was "pleased to say the final outcome was determined by Afghan law" and called for a "new chapter" of cleaner governance. Abdullah pulled out of the race citing concerns that not enough protections had been put in place to prevent another marred election. There's no word on whether Obama's decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan would be hastened by the resolution of the Afghan elections, and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is sticking to the “matter of weeks” script.