In late 2001 as the war drums were beating for Afghanistan a friend in New York then engaged to an ex Airborne Division guy (retired) and was then recruiting for Navy / Coast Guard in one of the Western states.
At the time I felt going into Afghanistan was a silly idea, he pretty much agreed but made the point that people he knew and had served with would say the same in 1 on 1 conversations but never beyond that. Nobody had figured out WTF were they going to do afterwards and how were they going to exit.
His classic comment was "The enemy don't stay stupid forever ".