I think the point about the accomplishments in Afghanistan is important, and it's often not recognized. But on the other hand, there are troubling signs there right now, and some trend lines you would look at for progress are heading in the wrong direction.
There's the number of attacks. There have been more suicide bombings this year than in the entire previous history of Afghanistan. The insurgency is using new techniques that are apparently being imported from Iraq. There are growing signs of discontent among the population with the government of Hamid Karzai. This comes not just from anecdotal evidence of people dropping by in Afghanistan and speaking to a few locals, but through organizations like the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. It did sit-down interviews with 1,000 people throughout the country this year and last year.
So there are clearly pieces of evidence that suggest the accomplishments have been extremely real, and others that suggest there are reasons for concern. My concern now is that the negative trend lines risk squandering the real accomplishments you're pointing to in your comments.