It would have been nice if the author had an alternative plan for total victory instead of just complaining.
Personally I would have preferred to toss the country to the Northern Alliance back in the day. They fought while we provided air support and made the Taliban run to the caves. We could have just provided some support service, like air support and materials and let them figure out how to forge a lasting peace. Who cares if they are SOBs, they would be our SOB.
In fact, we were going to turn the country over to the Northern Alliance. Osama knew that, and made sure to kill Ahmad Shah Massoud before launching 9-11.
"Total victory?" What exactly does that mean?