Success in Afghanistan?

From Gary Anderson, adjunct professor at the George Washington University's Elliott School, via TBD: 

"we went in to rid the country of al Qaeda and associated foreign fighters. In 2001, the country was ruled by the Taliban, and they were giving sanctuary to Bin Laden and his minions; so we toppled their government, and put one in that would not tolerate al Qaeda [Tako: this is debatable]. In the process, we decimated the terrorists' haven there. That is pretty much where we are today." 

"The real benefit of the lessons we have learned in Afghanistan through the expenditure of much blood and treasure may be in keeping places from Yemen and Mali from getting to the point where Afghanistan was in 2001." 

"We haven't lost Afghanistan, it was never ours to lose, but we have given them a chance to decide what they are going to be. That's likely to be as good as it gets."