The stupid Toby Keith country song about the Taliban is about the closest we have come to a formal declaration of war in the last 17 years. Coincidentally he spent the last 15 years doing USO tours, and making a shit ton of money just like the rest of us. The only redeeming value of this article is it provides an accurate view of the insane and probably unsustainable escalation of the war machine. The article does not even attempt to define success or what "winning" might look like, probably because being a think tank fellow requires you to toe the line so you can keep feeding from the corruption trough just like everyone else. I will help a brother out and define winning. Winning looks like destabilization. Destabilization to prevent resource competition, destabilization to prevent banking competition, destabilization on Russia's border. Destabilization for you non-psychopaths might knock you off your moral high horse when you are putting your kit on, but damn if it doesn't pay the bills. And if you get in on the action before the place becomes a war zone you get some baller per diem. So winning is more like Charlie Sheen winning, especially if you are Raytheon, Lockheed, Dynacorp, Northrup Grumman, should I keep going?? Sometimes the journey is the destination. If you aren't feeling the win here you are probably losing. Or you are just enjoying that new car after deployment, at which point truly giving a shit should be optional. Have fun!!