LONDON CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN

Plan for Withdrawal
"They say it is not about withdrawal... But it looks as if the London conference on Afghanistan is partly about just that, wrapped up in policies about "transferring primacy" to Afghan forces and "talking to the Taliban". It is about giving Western public opinion the confidence that there is a strategy not only for fighting the war but also for getting out of it..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8480368.stm

Plan to Buy Off the Taliban
"... In advance of an international conference in London to discuss Afghanistan's future... Japan, the US and Britain are said to be leading the proposal... to pay up to $500 million to Taliban fighters to persuade them to lay down their arms... The sum could be as much as between $500 million and $1bn over the next five years.."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/01/2010127102734689234.html