(CNN) -- Americans shouldn't expect to see the 62,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan come home any time soon, no matter who is declared the victor in the country's presidential election. U.S. Marines patrol near Herat, Afghanistan, in July. In fact, the Pentagon is planning to add 6,000 troops by the end of the year. Ballot counting continued Friday, a day after Afghans went to the polls in the nation's second presidential election since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, the strict Islamic theocracy that emerged from the country's civil war in the 1990s. Pre-election polls showed President Hamid Karzai and his former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, as the front-runners. U.S. policy would hold course under either, experts said.
@highlight
NEW: President Obama says U.S. goal remains defeating al Qaeda, its allies
@highlight
U.S. policy to stay course in Afghanistan no matter who wins voting, experts say
@highlight
Pentagon boosting troops in country, where U.S. is spending $4 billion a month
@highlight
Some want U.S. to keep nation stable; others say terrorists will just find other havens
Americans
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
Those who attacked @placeholder on 9/11 are plotting to do so again," Obama said this week.
Americans
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
"We should care about [@placeholder] troops, but we should also care about stability in Afghanistan so we don't see a return to something that looks like pre-9/11 Afghanistan," he said.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghans
Afghanistan
"We should care about [U.S.] troops, but we should also care about stability in Afghanistan so we don't see a return to something that looks like pre-9/11 @placeholder," he said.
Taliban
Terrorists will find other havens, he said, and there's no guarantee that a @placeholder ouster from Afghanistan would be permanent.
Taliban
"Were the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan and the @placeholder to regain power (or end up sharing power, which is more likely), going after the United States won't even be on their 'to do' list."