Winning over the "hearts and minds" of Afghan communities relies in large part on bolstering the authority of the central government vis-a-vis the Taliban. "The tribes on the fence want security, access to justice and economic activity," Ruggiero has said. "If you provide those things, the tribes on the fence will be less supportive of the Taliban."

Ruggiero's District Support Teams worked with Afghan officials to deliver aid, health and education services to local citizens, strengthening the connection between local communities and the central Afghan government. The 100-plus civilians on Ruggiero's team was an improvement over the fewer than ten civilians in southern Afghanistan before he arrived.

But these numbers still fall far short of the civilian corps the administration has promised. This is in part because funding has lagged behind policy decisions, and partly because there are simply not enough State Department officials with the proper training and expertise ready to deploy to Afghanistan.

Marjah Offensive

In a major operation launched in early 2010, American and NATO forces, along with the Afghan National Army, fought to take back the southern town of Marjah from the Taliban. Though the military effort succeeded, building up a strong government there proved more difficult.

U.S. officials worked to extend the reach of the central government to the town, but this was made difficult by the lack of security along the route into Marjah. Once the area was secure, Ruggiero said the U.S. had a number of development projects ready to start up, including a road to link Marjah to Lashkar Gah and an agricultural program.

Ruggiero said the civilian efforts in Marjah had taught the U.S. to better prioritize which officials would be most needed after a major military offensive. "If you are going to clear the area, you need to work out what the services are you need to provide soon thereafter clearing, so that those people are trained, hired and ready to go," he said.

Kandahar Campaign

A planned campaign in Kandahar, which was to be led by civilian and military forces, has been much harder than anticipated. A major sticking point has been an inability by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to produce stable civilian leadership and trained security forces in the area to cooperate with U.S. efforts.

Though it was initially planned for the summer, it started several months later and results seem mixed. While U.S. officials claim some success, the Taliban appears to be relying on safe havens in Pakistan and has focused on assassinations of political leaders in and around Kandahar. U.S. forces have stepped up CIA drone strikes on al-Qaeda networks inside Pakistan in response.

Show less