I agree with your assessment. Unfortunately I believe that these factors are leading the US into mistaken applications of our military force. It would be folly to get US troops involved in a ground campaign within Afghanistan with winter almost here. Those Afghani mountains are worthless pieces of dirt. Other factors with our mistake application of force are the biowarfare attacks currently occurring WITHIN the US, which may be supported or sponsered by Saddam Hussien.
If US troops get involved on the ground, the best place to apply that force now would be in Iraq capturing Saddam Hussien for his biological warfare crimes against humanity.
Ya'know there is one way to really warm winter mountains right up. We could even make them fairly glow. It would be summer in Trashcanistan for weeks.