Some good posts here. The fact is there was never going to be a 'victory' here. No amount of air power will ever subdue a hostile population. Occupying and holding ground in order to deny enemy operations and support is the only way. No army can occupy the entire country, so you need a civil population who are on-side and willing to deny the Taliban (who whoever it is this week, whether the enemy are organised or factional doesn't actually matter) support. The local population have experienced centuries of conflict and they know that ISAF will soon be gone. The local 'insurgency' however, is there to stay. Local warlords also feel no loyalty towards ISAF, they will change sides with little incentive. On top of that the local population is largely tribal, with a culture based on kinship loyalty and religion. They do not generally hold western values. Attempting to change all of this in just 15 years is futile. This should either be a very long-term mission (decades), or a containment operation.