One can't quite say the US is winning, in the manner of the word 'winning'.
Ray Sir, let me know what you think about my perspective.
The US is definitely not losing. In fact, they are winning in pure military point of view. Even the Soviets never lost. They won every single battle. In fact, they were even more successful, given that US was working against the Soviets then but Russia isn't working against the US now. However, the thing is that the Afghans have really nothing to lose. So, how can they be defeated? Even death of millions of Afghans apparently means a trifle, or so it seems.
BTW, I would have agreed with the Defense Secretary Panetta with more enthusiasm if the US could secure Nimroz region and the new Delaram-Zaranj highway that India built, which apparently is under Taliban control.