Just Enough Troops To Fail

In theory, Iraq may not be lost. If the US were to send three hundred thousand troops and stay in the country for thirty years, we might have a chance of turning things around. But, where would we get all those troops? In order to do so might require a draft(which would be unpopular) And, it may cost over several trillion dollars. If the United States is not willing to take such drastic steps, we need to get out as soon as possible. Wars are either won or loss, there can be no middle road. The only exception to this rule is an armistice. But, how can you sign and such an agreement with a hundred different tribes as well as thousands of insurgents and terrorists?
Like Vietnam, we are in a shadowy "half-way" war where victory and defeat are difficult things to measure. This is the worse sort of conflict since it makes stratigizing very difficult, and such a conflict can go on indefinitely. In Iraq, this is complicated by the fact that they are in a de-facto civil war. This means the US is at war with two rival factions.
From the beginning, the complications and difficulties of the Iraqi war were undersold. In the built to war, the neo-cons made it seem like a cakewalk. They were ether delusional or outright deceitful.
Meanwhile as all our resources and attention goes to Iraq, the Taliban are launching more attacks on Afghanistan from bases in Pakistan. The President says he doesn’t want Iraq to become a safe haven for terrorist. Yet, the Eastern provinces of Pakistan are indeed a safe haven for the Taliban and Al Queda! Pakistan has no real control of these areas, despite the Billions in aid and military hardware we’ve given them. If Pakistan can’t bring order out of Chaos, the US should.
Pakistan should simply declare the Eastern Provinces independent, so if the US were to invade them, it really would be and attack on Pakistan itself.