Oddly enough, this is one issue where the liberal Beinart has it right. The U.S. military had their boots on the ground in Afghanistan all the way back in the fall of 2001. For the U.S. to still be conducting combat operations in Afghanistan on the day Obama took office in January 2009 was clear evidence that the entire military campaign was a miserable failure.
the US military must be used correctly. they are not policemen, disaster relief workers, or nation builders.
the mission must be clearly articulated and sufficient force deployed to accomplish the mission in the most economic and efficient way and achieve VICTORY.