Thorough report on the withdrawal by Afghan President's rival, Abdullah Abdullah, from the runoff elections in Afghanistan. This story provides a factual overview, along with a comprehensive roundup of reactions from a wide range of stakeholders, from Afgan farmers and tribal elders from both camps, as well as members of the Obama administration and other Western officials.

This story accepts without question the Obama administration claim that the US military involvement in Afghanistan is primarily directed toward preventing al-Qaeda from re=establishing itself in that country. Al-Qaeda is a very small element of the insurgency.

The article offers the information necessary to gain a picture of the current situation in Afghanistan. We learn that Mr. Abdullah has been under intense pressure from Western officials to avoid confrontation, so his decision becomes understandable, since all he had to expect was new fraud and lack of fairness.

I thought this article was quality journalism because they were able to report all that went on in the conference. They used various quotes said by Mr. Karzai and various descriptive expressions. Although this is occurring in Afghanistan it is relevant to the U.S..