Washington mum on Afghan presidential race

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Washington will work with whichever candidate emerges victorious from the Aug. 20 presidential elections, a State Department spokesman said.

Afghans head to the polls next week to choose provincial council leaders and their next president. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai squares off against dozens of challengers, including his former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. More than 3,000 candidates are competing for provincial council seats.

Washington, which had backed Karzai in the past, said it would look to the post-election climate in Kabul in order to determine the best way forward with a newly elected government.

"We look forward to working with whatever government is formed after the election is completed," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.

Meanwhile, U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top military commander in Afghanistan, had called for a surge of civilian government workers to complement the military campaign in Afghanistan as part of an effort to boost reconstruction while providing security for the elections.

Crowley noted the two efforts go hand-in-hand with the counterinsurgency doctrine employed in Afghanistan.

"We think we have constructed an effective plan going forward," he said. "It's sequenced carefully based on what the military is trying to accomplish to expand security into places in Afghanistan where we've not had a presence before."