All those are valid points but it really boils down to the Rules of Engagement. The U.S. forces are restricted by our 'nobody should get hurt' mentality. If we were allowed to be ruthlessly effective, this war would have been over, militarily speaking, years ago. I'm not advocating killing women and children. But, we could be harder on the men.
That being said, when the military action is over, we should be thinking long term presence like we have in Korea and Germany. The mess in Iraq is proof of how important a long term presence really is...
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