Bagram "Taleban" detainees to be amnestied?

The BBC reports from Kabul that American forces plan on releasing much of the detainee population at Bagram Air Base next year. The current prisoner population they cited indicated a major rise from earlier in the year. So the question is: why did the US increase the number of prisoners, only to release them early in 2005?

The commander of the US-led military coalition in Afghanistan says many suspected militants in US bases could be released in the new year.

The move would be part of efforts aimed at persuading Taleban members to abandon their insurgency. [...]

The idea is that the rest of the Taleban movement will no longer be targeted by US and Afghan forces if they hand in weapons and agree to abide by Afghanistan's new constitution.

However, although word of the amnesty has been around for over a month, attacks by suspected Taleban militants have continued.