Anup Kaphle from The Atlantic is in Afghanistan and has an interesting piece up on its police force (the article is a bit old by Internet standards, but I've been traveling):

Unlike most police forces, Afghanistan's 77,000-strong national police deals less with civilian law and order, and more with an insurgency that has engulfed most of the southern part of the country and the tribal areas bordering Pakistan. From dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn, the policemen contend with one of the most fanatical and militant groups in recent history--all for a monthly salary of around $110 (about 7,000 Afghanis). While this is an improvement over the average monthly Afghan income of $25, it is nearly two and a half times less than that earned by the Afghan National Army (whose training is admittedly more rigorous, and whose missions are considered more involved than the routine but dangerous patrols carried out by the police). In light of this, one might imagine that everyone would simply sign up for the army instead of the police, but the army has quotas, which makes it more difficult to get into.

It's amazing how many of the current problems in Afghanistan boil down to basic economic security. The lower turnout rate in the most recent election was partially due to security concerns, but I've also read several interviews in which Afghans essentially say their worries about day-to-day financial struggles outweigh opinions about who should lead the country. Democracy will struggle until average Afghans can see some sort of correlation between their votes and their economic security.