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WASHINGTON — Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai agreed Tuesday to submit to a run-off election on Nov. 7 after Afghanistan's election commission ordered a second-round vote.
The commission acted after a fraud investigation dropped Karzai's votes to below 50% of the total.

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The announcement came two months to the day after the first-round vote and follows weeks of political uncertainty at a time when Taliban strength is growing.

Karzai said final results showing the need for a runoff were "legitimate, legal and according to the constitution of Afghanistan."

The Afghan leader spoke at a press conference in Kabul alongside U.S. Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the head of the U.N. in Afghanistan, Kai Eide — a sign of the intense international pressure which preceded the announcement.

"The future of Afghanistan will ultimately be determined by Afghans civilians and through good governance — not soldiers or the international community," Kerry said, complimenting Karzai for his openness to finding ways to resolving differences. "If this is to be a real turning point, we must strengthen the capacity of the government at every level to provide for its citizens."

President Obama said he called Karzai to thank him for agreeing to a new vote

"As we all know, this has been a very difficult time in Afghanistan," Obama said, adding that the decision to conduct a runoff is "a reflection of a commitment to the rule of law and an insistence that the Afghan people's will should be done."

The president did not indicate whether the new election date delays or pushes up his decision on whether to deploy more troops to the war-torn regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday in a briefing with reporters that "I don't know when the president will make that decision."

Gibbs also said the U.S. is staying neutral in the race between incumbent Karzai and Abdullah, a former foreign minister.

"This is an Afghan election, to be decided by Afghans," Gibbs said. "The United States doesn't have a candidate in this election."

Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton pledged U.S. support to election authorities "to help them achieve a conclusion to the elections process."

"We remain committed to partnering with the Afghan people and their government on our shared objectives of strengthening good governance, tackling corruption, increasing economic opportunities and improving security for all Afghans," Clinton said.

Gibbs said existing deployments will bring the U.S. force to a size of 68,000 by the end of the year.

"We've obviously got a sizable security force there now," he added.

Some Republican officials said the newly scheduled election demonstrate the need for more troops. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama's opponent in last year's election, urged McCain to adopt the more aggressive strategy proposed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

"It is unrealistic to expect Afghan governance to improve significantly without improved security," McCain said. He again called on Obama to "provide our military and civilian leaders in Afghanistan with the resources they need as quickly as possible."

An organization called Military Families United also urged Obama to adopt McChrystal's recommendations, noting that he developed them before the initial August vote