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　　WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama,Secretary of State John Kerry, and DefenseSecretary Chuck Hagel are hailing Saturday’selections in Afghanistan, which are expected toproduce the country’s first-ever democratictransfer of power. Although Afghanistan’s nextpresident may not be known for weeks, the Obama administration hopes the newleader will finalize a bilateral security agreement to keep a residual U.S. militarypresence in the country.

　　Ballot counting continues after Afghans braved threats of violence to go to the polls in recordnumbers. Presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani.

　　"We have proven that we are people of the ballot, not of the bullets. The Afghan publicappreciates democracy, believes in it and is willing to make it work,” said Ghani.

　　Sporadic complaints of voting irregularities do not appear to have shaken Afghans’ faith in thedemocratic exercise, said presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah.

　　"We have registered our complaints, we have processed those complaints and referred it to therelevant commission, which is the Independent Election Complaints Commission, and hopefullythose complaints will be dealt with duly," said Abdullah.

　　At more than 12 years, the Afghan war is America’s longest. President Obama pledged to bringit to an end while preserving hard-fought gains in the country. The administration views asuccessful transfer of power overseen by increasingly capable Afghan security forces asvalidation of their surge-and-withdraw strategy. White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

　　“This is a little bit different than most elections that are conducted in the U.S. in which we findout the results that night or the next day. But at the same time, we are hopeful that theelections will be peaceful and inclusive and broadly acceptable to the Afghan people. A stableand acceptable political transition is critical to sustaining international support forAfghanistan,” said Earnest.

　　Unlike outgoing President Hamid Karzai, all Afghan presidential contenders have said theywould sign a bilateral security agreement with the United States to keep several thousandmilitary personnel in the country, primarily in a train-and-advise capacity. Democratic SenatorTim Kaine backs the drawdown of U.S. forces, but says progress must not be squandered.

　　"There have been nearly 2,300 U.S. servicemembers who have given their lives in Afghanistan.And the United States has spent $600 billion in Afghanistan. While we cannot gloss over thechallenges that remain in Afghanistan today and tomorrow, we should remember the progressthat has been achieved in 13 years since the Taliban fell in October of 2001," said Kaine.

　　For now, from the White House to Capitol Hill, an almost audible sigh of relief can be heardthat Afghanistan’s elections went forward with minimal violence, and that the country appearson track to have a president-elect declared by next month.