I don’t know, I am not a General, so that is not my area of expertise. The one who was there said it would have. Can I assume by your skepticism you have more information than Petraeus did? Sounds like you think it wouldn’t have helped, which means you agree with Obastard that shorting the general’s request was the right thing to do.
I have common sense. What would the extra ten thousand troops do for a few years that could possibly have handed a decisive defeat to the insurgents? Hold down a few more districts? Train a few more ANA? Please explain. I’m sure if you ask Petraeus now he would say it wouldn’t have mattered much.
The problems in Afghanistan are political more than military. Our troops have defeated the the Taliban every time they have fought them. The reason the Taliban still has so many supporters is largely because Karzai’s regime is so corrupt and incompetent.