[Skybird]

To bring light into a land of darkness, ehem...

I do not know however how to translate that into a military mission objective that, once acchieved, marks the criterion for "mission end" and "begin pullout." In other words, to my best knowledge neither a clear military definition of objectives nor a criterion when said mission is considered to be achieved and thus pullout begins, have ever been given. It has all been war on terror, and plenty of wishy-washy.

It has been a bit like jumping out of the plane with the plan of thinking in mid-air and falling about how to get hands on a parachute. Dynamic process orientation, flexible mission design, you know. You have to go with the times, how gotta be flexible and solution-oriented. Sexy new language and creative terminology usage are key. The logic behind this political trick: to know that one cannot impact on the ground as long as one has not gotten a parachute. Thats why the fall to the ground could last forever, in these smart minds' thinking at least. Well, I have my ear-wax ready, to save my eardrum.

P.S.
Reminds me of an anecdote a US historian recently told on German TV, in a docu on the Japanese "defence forces". Formally, Japan has no army, the constitution prohibits that. When being confronted on some question on Japanese participation in international military scenarios, theoretically or real, the Japanese diplomat said, that where there are Japanese defence forces present there cannot be a military conflict existing and so it is harmless to be there - where Japanese soldiers-that-are-no-soldiers are present, there cannot be a warzone, becasue else the Japanese would not be there. The presence of the Japanese proves it that ther eis no war, because Japasnese forces are no "forces". According to Japanese diplomatic logic. - No joke, but real!

Germany for years and years refused to call the war in Afghanistan actually a war.