How can this happen and not be vindicated?

This article from today’s Washington Post points out a tragic occurrence that would create a national furor in this country but affords a one page mention in the nation’s paper. Apparently a respected cleric was shot dead in his car while his three children were in the back. How can this still happen? We have spent over A TRILLION dollars on our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan And I’m not saying that there has not been progress in eliminating the roots of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan but what have we accomplished and at what cost? How can it be so difficult to take out one man? It was accomplished quite quickly in Iraq. Should our role be the world over preventing access to nuclear weapons such as the aims in Pakistan, North Korea and Iran? Is this even possible? At what point are we spread so thin and our economy so shredded that we can not even provide from the most basic needs of our own citizens? And if our job is holding down the fort as “king of the mountain” does that not just set us up as a very large target “on top of the hill”? It’s been over a decade with no end in sight. Should we continue to hunt mosquitoes with bombs? At what point do we take a different tack? How do we know when we have won in Afghanistan?
No need to answer all the questions but just some thoughts to provoke discussion.