Well, we can quote the Prime Minister of Canada to the effect that there is no military solution to this conflict. That's repeated by the U.S. administration and U.S. generals.
The question is, what is the role of the military in counter-insurgency currently? As I understand, they are trying to put the Taliban and other insurgents into a position of weakness and to force them to enter into negotiations in a weakened state.
Indications from the UN Secretary General's report and other independent reports are that even with the surge, particularly by the American forces in the last six months, the security situation has become worse, that areas like Marjah and Kandahar are actually in a worse security situation than prior to the surge. In other words, the surge in military activity has not necessarily led to the results the military was hoping for.