The job is being done-- although, maybe not fast enough for the MTV/video game generation. These people are getting off their asses, in the face of very dangerous opposition.
Set your way-back machine for 1945. How long was it before Germany or Japan was stable? I'm not talking about our cold war presence, I'm talking about immediately post-WWII.
Setting an overall deadline is counter-productive. It simply means that the bad guys will wait you out. It also means that, if you miss the deadline, the opposition here at home will hammer you into the ground.
Little deadlines, sure. Big deadlines, nope.
These are people that will sleep at any chance that they get. Most of them would prefer to be career dumpster divers than have a job.
Afghanistan is coming along nicely. We will be out of there alot sooner than Iraq because those people are born soldiers and workers. Iraqis are lazy as HELL. And as long as they know that we have no end in sight to the deployments, they won't take us seriously.