This war will be a slog.

The terrain is prohibitive for many of the operations that made the occupation and clearing of Iraq achievable.

So a redo of the surge will not provide the same results in a comparatively short time.

For instance, the mountains are hard to patrol and easy to hide in. The industrial and educational infrastructure that existed in Iraq (and hosted a semblance of a secular middle class) simply does not exist in Afghanistan. You have a very long, mountainous border with Pakistan who still provides aid and comfort to the Taliban. Oh - and they have nukes and an unstable government.

Bush was always candid on how Afghanistan was going to take a very long time as was the WOT.

Obama exploited the left’s narrative that there was no WOT, only a war on civil liberties, and now his moralist supporters are tired of killing people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It will be a test of Obama’s integrity and leadership for him to adapt a long range strategy in Afghanistan that sees the fight through.