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

The Iraqi ceasefire, winners and losers.

Hello again, I'm Mormon-Aulny, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Baghdad and Basra are calmer now that Miltta al-Sada has told his militias to stop fighting government forces.

But government politicians went to Iran to make the deal.

Prime Minister al-Maliki's surprise offensive has revealed more weakness than strength.

On to the point, U.S. forces took sides in a struggle between two groups

of Shiites. What's next for Sunnis, Kurds, and other factions? What's the role of Iran, now and in the

future? Will U.S. troop withdrawal depend on local players and events it cannot control?

On reporter's notebook later on, the convention's not until August, but Democratic leaders are already meeting.

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. MacArthur Foundation. Hello again, Wamanalny, back with To the Point. After initiating

a week of deadly fighting, Iraq's Prime Minister Al-Maliki looks weaker than when it began. The

winners appear to include Iran. On To the Point, what happened to what President Bush called

a defining moment,

and what's the impact on an American troop withdrawal? On reporter's notebook, as the Obama-Clinton

campaign continues, party leaders are meeting in the modern equivalent of smoke-filled rooms,

emails, and phone calls. You already know what they're talking about, but we'll hear more.

First, these news updates of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alfonso Jackson resigned today.

...