More troops won't help 

In early 2008, we had 27,000 troops in Afghanistan, compared with 38,000 troops now in country. During January and February of this year, 29 Americans perished, compared with eight Americans who perished in the same period last year. The rise in deaths is attributed to the greater number of troops present, yet to date we have not ended the influence of the Taliban or brought all the culprits of the 9/11 tragedy to justice. Our current strategy apparently is to add 17,000 troops in Afghanistan. How can any decision be more misguided and contra-indicated by the above information?
 
America’s efforts in Afghanistan must be geared to obtaining broader international support, stronger cooperation with the Afghani and Pakistani governments, and meaningful alliances with the individual groups that are influential within those nations. It is time we realize the struggle in Afghanistan is not a war and as such cannot be won as a war. We do not face an opposing nation but instead a bunch of deadly criminals. The struggle in Afghanistan is clearly a police action, with its success rising or falling not on American might but on American diplomacy.
 
Have the last eight years taught us nothing?