U.K. Paying Taliban $160/Month to Lay Down Arms

Amnesty program proving to be successful, with 2,700 converts in a year.

As they say, money talks. The British government is offering to pay Taliban fighters about $160 a month if they promise to put down their arms and stop fighting British troops in Afghanistan. And the plan has proven to be at least somewhat successful: According to the Telegraph, more than 2,700 Taliban members have already ditched the insurgent group, while another 800 are expected to do so soon. In Afghanistan's north, as many as 900 troops have left the Taliban, leading to a 30 per cent decline in violence there. The program asks Taliban members to fill out a questionnaire asking why they joined the Taliban. In exchange for promising to no longer attack ISAF troops, the Taliban members get the monthly stipend, amnesty from ever having their wartime crimes prosecuted, and permission to keep their guns. The fighters then take a three-month course that explains to them the rules and expectations of civil society to help them reintegrate back into the mainstream. So far, only five of the 2,700 fighters to have taken the deal have gone back to fighting.