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

The White House Review of Afghanistan.

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

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Having sent 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, President Obama conceded today that progress is fragile. He still thinks withdrawal can begin next July, but he also said the war is moving into what he called a new phase, and U.S. combat forces will remain until December of 2014.

Intelligence estimates say the fight will be harder than the Pentagon claims,

with Pakistan refusing to shut down Taliban sanctuaries across the border.

A new poll shows that 60% of Americans don't think the war is worth fighting.

We'll hear how the president defines his goals as well as his strategy. On reporter's notebook, new trouble for BP. 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 and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Mormon-Aulay, back with To the Point. New from WikiLeaks, BP, had to conduct a mass

evacuation after a gas leak in Azerbaijan 18 months before the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

This, as the Obama Justice Department files a lawsuit that could cost the company tens of billions of dollars.

We'll hear more about that later on our program.

First is news update with Secretaries Clinton and Gates at his side.

President Obama said today that gains in Afghanistan are fragile but real,

and he still hopes to begin a so-called conditions-based withdrawal in July of next year.

We are moving toward a new phase in Afghanistan, a transition to full Afghan lead for security

that will begin early next year and will conclude in 2014.

Again, the president speaking today at the White House, Julian Barnes is Pentagon reporter

for the Wall Street Journal.

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