The phrase "as the protracted" is not complete and lacks context, making it difficult to assess its correctness and usability in written English.
It could potentially be used in a context discussing something that is prolonged or extended, but without additional information, its application is unclear.
Example: "As the protracted negotiations continued, tensions began to rise among the parties involved."
Alternatives: "as the extended" or "as the prolonged".
Many simply went home with returning fighters as the protracted Balkan wars wound down in the late 1990s.
Many young doctors head to Australia and elsewhere overseas, and increasing numbers say they want to go abroad as the protracted junior doctors dispute has dragged on.
As soon as the jubilee was done with and the corpse of Mr Byers digested, it would be somebody else's turn.As well as the protracted hunting down of Mr Byers, the government has had to contend with a stream of stories about the surprising people the Labour Party has been happy to solicit money from.
As the protracted struggle to bring order to the southern Afghan town of Marja demonstrates, it has been an uphill battle so far.
Not only is he well liked, but he also has no ready successor and as the protracted search for a Citigroup head demonstrated, there is a dearth of outside executives ready and willing to take on such a job.
"The main risks are on the down side," he said, citing the prospect of war in the Middle East and the disruptions it would cause in oil prices and supply, as well as the "protracted slump" in stock prices.
Another writer might describe the same experience differently - for instance, as the excitation of the protracted creative moment.
This is seen as the first description of the protracted epidemiological transition.
Unless one of the candidates delivers a series of early victories, the nominating contest could be as protracted as the Democratic primary in 2008.
Premature disclosure can be as unnerving as protracted concealment.
In a world of conflict, confrontation, deadlocks and dead ends, few crises are as protracted as the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.
