If we go into the mountains of Afghanistan we will get our butts kicked. The Afghanis know their hills like no one else ever could and they have never been completely subdued. The British tried during the Raj and settled for a draw at best.
The trick is to isolate bin Laden, cut him off from his support and his funds. They are not in Afghanistan but elsewhere. Tell the Taliban we want him and if they won't turn him over, interdict the whole country; nothing gets in or out. And I mean NOTHING.
If a plane trys to overfly the country, shoot it down .If People try to break in or out, kill them. Build a wall around the whole country if necessary and patrol it relentlessly.
"But innocent people will die." I hear you say.
Yes, they will.
"We can't do that."
Yes we can.
But world opinion will go against us."
And your point is...? Most of them don't love us anyway so why concern ourselves with what they think.
Do it this way or in a similar way, and we will avoid even more American dead.
It won't be quick. We'll have to commit to a long siege. Rambo won't show up to end it in 120 minutes.
But it can work.
And it's better than having our people die.troll