Forgive me for not reading through the entire thread. Regarding the ALP, serveral sources I've seen have lamented about the issues surrounded this latest attempt to establish some form of local police. It seems the biggest issue is that the ALP aren't being paid on time, or at all and so are taxing the locals. It's just a little bit of history repeating itself. Corrupt government/security forces tax and abuse the locals, locals dislike/distrust the GoIRA and so the Taliban can use this to gain influence. Corruption within the state poses a greater threat to COIN in Afghanistan than the Taliban do.