In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has been sworn into a new five-year term. Karzai took the oath of office at a ceremony earlier today. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among hundreds of foreign dignitaries on hand. Karzai won national elections in August in a race tainted by allegations of widespread fraud. His main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of a runoff vote earlier this month. President Obama, meanwhile, says he’s prepared to announce a decision on escalating the Afghan war in the next several weeks.

President Obama: “I’m confident that at the end of this process I’m going to be able to present to the American people in very clear terms what exactly is at stake, what we intend to do, how we’re going to succeed, how much it’s going to cost, how long it’s going to take.”

Obama was speaking at the end of his visit to China. His comments come one day after NATO’s Secretary General said “substantially more” troops will be headed to Afghanistan.