I agree with Tom's conclusions. But additionally, once again it goes to show that the high value individual / high value target program can only have a finite and limited success, and I would argue that too much emphasis has been placed on sending SF operators after specific individuals. A very costly, very expensive, very consuming strategy that has yielded only marginal benefits.

There are no buttons to push, no magic incantations to utter. COIN takes a commitment of resources, including troops to build the security necessary to win the population and weed out the insurgents.

Almost every MSM report I see now on "Taliban commander killed in [such-and-such] province ...," I ignore and close within tenths of a second without so much as reading it. These reports don't matter.