Before this thread becomes yet another debate about the nature of warfare, let's get back to sanctuaries for a just a minute - Pakistan in particular.

Here's the way I see things:

1. Our strategy is based on the assumption that creating a viable state in Afghanistan will prevent AQ from returning to establish a safe-haven.

2. The safe-haven in Pakistan, like a cancer that never quite gets killed off, makes the establishment of #1 extremely difficult. If you can't kill or coopt the cancer, it will continue to spread to Afghanistan at every opportunity.

3. For ten years a host of plans and strategies have been floated about how to deal with the Pakistani safe-haven and so far they have all failed. What I've seen over the last couple of years are simply rehashed efforts marketed as new initiatives.

4. In light of that history is it reasonable to expect the US to be able to deal with the safe-haven, by whatever method (Kinetic or "lets-make-a-deal"), within a relevant timeframe - ie. the next few years?

5. If not, then where does that leave our strategy for creating a semi-stable state in Afghanistan?