Very informative, Teribus, as always.

The challenges remain: what to do next, how to persuade the public to support it, how long to do it, with what likelihood of success and what penalties for failure. Because of the all-volunteer military, public pressure in the U.S. to withdraw completely is muted and neither presidential candidate supports withdrawal now. That is despite Obama's well publicized lowering of troop levels, which may be premature.

Unpredictable developments elsewhere will (not *might*) affect any policy.

Of course, those who see the Afghan war as a simple, sinister plot of the U.S. government and its Allies will insist on immediate withdrawal because whatever would happen next would be so much "better" for the region (and for the rest of us) than "imperial" Western "interference."

Not likely, IMO.