As a civilian on a personal surge, I can relate very well to my friend Steve Metz's comments regarding the socalled civilian surge. I would say the system of getting non-military to go to war is not only broke it is actually designed to discourage through red-tape and stupidity.

As a retired military guy who worked closely with civilians in two other war zones before this one, I can also state that the cultural underpinnings in the civilian agencies must be changed if we are ever to overcome the gap between desires and consumation.

This is a good article on what it targets: the current situation. The entire last paragraph should be read to get that thought across:

What, then, is Plan B? If we are unwilling to pay the price for a serious civilian capability--and admit that foisting the job of development and political assistance on the military is a bad idea--the only option is to alter our basic strategy. We could find a way to thwart Al Qaeda and other terrorists without trying to re-engineer weak states. We could, in other words, get out of the counterinsurgency and stabilization business. This is not an attractive option and entails many risks. But it does reflect reality. Ultimately, it may be better than a strategy based on a capability that exists only in our minds.
Maybe this is Plan B for Afghanistan and the fight against Al Qaeda. But just saying no to COIN and stability ops is not a strategy or even a policy. We may need to get out of COIN and stability ops in OEF. But as as a statement of larger policy, experience shows we don't always get to choose.

Tom