Posted by MikeF,
Steve Coll's article is impressive, but he misses one assumption- victory has nothing to do with the US or the coalition. It is all about the Afghani's. The solution is simple.
Mike I know where you're coming from, but I disagree and believe this is the essence of the FID versus occupation debate. We didn't go into Iraq or Afghanistan to help the locals achieve their objectives, but to achieve ours.

I realize the character and objectives of conflict can change over time, but "our" victory is directly related to our objectives. The Afghan people are probably an essential means to achieving that victory with the current strategy, and "ideally" it would be a win-win situation for both of us.

IMO we can't invade a country after they attack us with the objective of destroying AQ, and then claim that victory is simply up to the Afghan people, not us. If we can't achieve our objectives through the Afghan people, then we need to consider other means and strategies.