Can the United States defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan?

Submit a fully-developed essay in response to the following question. Your essay should be approximately 500 to 1000 words (the equivalent of 2 to 4 typed, double-spaced pages) in length. All assignments should be a combination of solid research and personal evaluation of the data.

Why was the U.S.-led coalition able to topple the Taliban government in Afghanistan in just over two months, but not defeat the subsequent insurgency? Can the United States defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan? Justify and defend your position.
Argue whether or not the U.S. government reacted appropriately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Were measures such as the USA PATRIOT Act an overreaction and a blow to civil liberties or not? Has the expansion of domestic intelligence or surveillance programs reduced the potential for terrorism in the United States? Be sure to defend your position using evidence from the The War About Terror paper and the text.