From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Afghanistan takes another shot at democracy.

Hello again, I'm Orban, Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The Obama administration's three-legged stool for Afghanistan includes security, economic development,

and better governance. More troops are on the way. Multibillion-dollar development contracts are

being signed. National elections are just over a week away. Will the vote demonstrate political

stability in a nation at war?

With 40 other candidates on the ballot,

President Hamid Karzai may be forced into a runoff.

Will it take deals with warlords and drug traffickers

to keep him in office?

How deep is resentment over governmental corruption

and the perception of U.S. influence?

Will voters outside Kabul ignore Taliban threats and go to the polls?

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation,

the John D. and Catherine

T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated to the idea that

all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. Information at gatesfoundation.org.

...