Just putting two points together that seem to me to illustrate a disparity:

Quote Originally Posted by Michael C View Post
If I can convince the reader of one thing it is this: every operation is an Information Operation. Every patrol, every battle, every discussion is a chance to persuade the population to support the government...

The best advertising needs two things: a great product and a clear message. You should be conducting population-centric COIN, so you have a great product. That means you just need to have a clear message.
Question: is the government in question "a great product"? Do you really believe that it is? Do the people you're communicating have reason to believe that it is?

I'm coming at this from a Philippine perspective rather than an Afghanistan perspective, very different places, but I expect some of the observations make sense in either environment. I've seen here that American "information campaigns" often seem to overlook the reality that the populace already has a good deal of experience with "the product", and that experience hasn't always been good.

It's important to realize in any such situation that you are the outsider, and the people you are trying to inform probably know a lot more about what you're talking about than you do. They may not have access to the media that you are familiar with, but that doesn't mean they don't get information. They may seem unsophisticated, but that doesn't mean they are incapable of processing and evaluating information. If people are reacting or behaving in ways that seems irrational or incomprehensible to you, there's a good chance that it's you who needs better information, not them: there's probably something going on in the picture that you don't see.