We beat them in every small unit engagement , yes . But the Taliban still control thru majority of the country . Even during 2010 , during the highest levels of troop deployments the Taliban was running a shadow government , doing things like collecting taxes and providing infrastructure . All I ' m saying is it takes a lot more than tanks and drones to beat an insurgency , and I ' m saying it from personal experience . Edit Another thought occurred to me after I posted my response . A total war scenario against a rebellion on US soil is even more unlikely than a COIN type engagement . We wouldn ' t be firebombing American cities , using WMDs , or any other type of total war tactics on our own soil , against our own civilians .