<I hope you're right. Given the countryside, the politics, the population and the history, I don't think so. Given that for "them" it's a religious jihad and for us it's a political affair, I think they will want their country more than we will, and we can't win without occupying the country.

For places like China, it’s political. For the Americas and Europe, it’s a matter of survival. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that the target of al Qui’da is not American Airlines, United Airlines, or very, very tall buildings. The target is anyone who refuses to convert to Muslim. Perhaps that doesn’t include you, so that makes it purely political to you, but it does include me. That makes me, my family, and a majority of my acquaintances direct targets.

At this point the US is committed, for a while anyway. I think sooner or later we'll declare victory and come home. If that's it I hope we don't waste lives.

Victory will be declared in Afghanistan -- hopefully very soon -- but the threat of globalized terrorism remains extremely active. This war will continue for many years.

Or the US will get tangled up somewhere else and just leave Afghanistan.

I don’t think we’re that limited in our resources.

Dan