*s-i-i-i-gh* You know, around here we have a saying about not selling a bear's fur before the beast has been felled...

Just out of curiosity, what are the conservative estimates you know about the number of insurgents operating down there ? The ones I've seen speak of many thousands; and as odds are they get new recruits all the time...

Rather more importantly, the ones that don't die in the skirmishes learn. The place is a live-fire training ground for the next generation of Islamist militants, and you're not going to be able to convince me the US will be able to kill or capture even a majority of them.

If the country gets back on its feet sometime in the near future, fine; at least something good came out of the whole bloody mess. If it doesn't, well, none of those "good news" are worth a damn...