I would say it is not impossible to beat or kill out the Taliban. It could be done, although not under the current model. To do this, you would have to wage an all out war, instead of this police action we find ourselves in. And you would have to invade the tribal areas of Pakistan, in a really big way. With ground troops. Any of you guys serve in Nam? This is reminding me of that cluster fuck. Anyone recall taking some of those hills in Nam, at great lose of life, just to walk away and then retake it again the next month? No, when you give the enemy a place to run to to find a place to lick their wounds, get resupplied and regroup, you are engaging in a war based upon THEIR rules. And don't be surprised when you go home with your tail between you legs, while wasting so many young American lives. BTW, the LAST war that Congress did their duty and declared, we actually won! It's just the wars declared by only the Pres. that we have tended to lose. Do ya think there's any connection here? Once the US gets back to the Constitutional based model of declaring war, perhaps we stand a chance of finally winning another one! We can win wars, we just can't win these "non declared" wars, or so it seems. But we can waste so many young lives, for what? NOTHING. That is the real crime here. And it should be a hanging offense, but isn't. There was such outrage over the Viet Nam war, that we even had to stop drafting our soldiers. The public wanted no part in being sent to lose lives for NOTHING. So, we got us an all volunteer armed forces, as to avoid the likes of the Viet Nam era protesters. Plus, the elites no longer had to pull strings to get their own kids exempt from death that war brings. We can then send just mostly folks from the less fortunate families, who are looking for a leg up in the American Dream. The Cons and even some Libs love this new way. What better folks to send to protect your vast fortunes than the common rabble? Hell, they would not amount to much anyways, this common rabble. In fact, the best thing their lives can do is to insure the elites don't have to die, which they would if we had a fair draft in place again. Not only do the rich elites live off of the labor of the common rabble, but the common rabble even dies, so the elites don't have to! Gotta love it! If this did not originate from the Repubs, I would be in shock. And if it did not originate from the Repubs, hell is about to freeze over. This is what those folks do. Their actions have alway been the "tell".