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

American politics and Pakistan.

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

A daily look at the issues. Americans care about most.

Senator Barack Obama has made Pakistan an issue in the presidential campaign

by calling for U.S. strikes on northwestern Pakistan under certain conditions.

His democratic opponents and Pakistan's government have denounced that idea, but for different reasons.

On to the point, with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda rebuilding in that region,

is it time to get tough with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf?

We'll hear more about Musharraf's political troubles

and his reliability as an American ally.

Has tough action in Pakistan as well as Afghanistan

already had unintended consequences,

including demands by ethnic Pashtures for their own country.

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 and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur

Foundation. Hello again. Worminalni, back with To the Point. Barack Obama's threat to attack

al-Qaeda in Pakistan has made that country an issue in the presidential campaign. On To the Point,

there's a time to get tough with President Pervez Musharraf. Does the possible blowback include

demands for a new country for ethnic

Pashtuns carved out of Pakistan and Afghanistan?

...