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

In Pakistan, diplomacy or interference?

Hello again, I'm Orinolny, and this is To the Poet from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

For its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the U.S. needs help from a stable Pakistan.

With America's urging, Pakistan's president, General Purvez Musharraf, has cut a deal with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Sounds good for Musharraf and Bhutto, but some Pakistanis also see victories for military rule and high-level corruption at the expense of democracy.

On to the point, we'll have the latest on the presidential election, political amnesty, and a possible return from exile.

Will U.S. involvement produce a backlash?

On reporter's notebook later on, a farm labor shortage, and the

failure of immigration reform. First, 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. Wormin Al-Nay, back with To the Point. In the interest of stabilizing a crucial ally, the U.S. has urged leaders of Pakistan to resolve their differences. On To the Point, is it a step toward democracy and civilian rule,

or a victory for the military and amnesty for high-level corruption? Will there be a backlash

against U.S. involvement? On reporter's notebook, farmers warn that crops will rot in the fields

if they don't get help finding more workers. We'll hear what the Bush administration's trying to do

about it. First this news update, Prime Minister Gordon Brown told Parliament today that British troops in Iraq will be cut in half by spring of next year.

Conservatives were outraged that he announced a reduction last week while he was in Iraq and they accused him of playing politics with the armed forces.

Here's Prime Minister Brown.

This was not the announcement I made in Iraq last week. The

announcement I made in Iraq last week was what would happen in the next few weeks. This is the long-term

strategy for overwatch. This is the long-term strategy for Overwatch, which means that the numbers of our troops fall from 5,500 to 2.5,000 to 2.5,000.

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