Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Barack Obama have held a lengthy video conference call this morning to discuss the new U.S. strategy.

The presidential palace said in a statement that the conference lasted about an hour.

The President has a speech this evening at West Point in which he will outline a new U.S. plan and dispatch up to 35,000 more American troops to Afghanistan.

Karzai's office says the two leaders discussed in detail the security, political, military and economic aspects of the strategy.

The President plans to make it clear tonight that the U.S. presence isn't open-ended, and the new strategy is aimed at helping Afghans help themselves.

The plan is being welcomed by some families of 9/11 victims but others are less hopeful.

The sister of the pilot whose plane hit the Pentagon says it's long overdue. A Vietnam vet who lost a son on 9/11 says he hopes Obama remembers the lessons of Vietnam.

Obama has already sent his first orders. At least one group of Marines will be deployed and in place by Christmas.

The president spent much of Monday briefing foreign allies on his decisions.

Obama has said the strategy will put the U.S. "on a path toward ending the war," though he's not planning to offer an exact timetable.