President Obama is huddling with the leaders of more than 60 countries in his hometown of Chicago this week to work out a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and to figure out who is going to pay $4 billion a year to help the Afghans protect themselves beyond 2014.

After a decade of war, Obama and the 28 member nations of NATO will redefine the combat mission in Afghanistan and plot the withdrawal of the 130,000 foreign troops remaining in the country.