A war that cannot be won or lost

[William F. Owen]

It's hard to accomplish objectives if you don't know what they are. I've long felt that much of the frustration and sense of failure that accompanies public perceptions of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan derives from unclear or excessively optimistic objectives.

Concur, but isn't the objective in A'Stan to have a pro-western stable government? Am I wrong?

That's a pretty easy objective to understand. It may actually be impossible, because we are not prepared defeat the insurgency, but I don't think anyone would quibble with the "idea" or the "dream."