Ambassador Crosbie said there have already been many changes.

"The biggest area of progress is giving Afghans the ability to actually change their own future, through education, through training of teachers, through economic opportunities such as the rehabilitation of the Dahla Dam, restoring agriculture."

But no one believes success is assured, least of all the Afghans. One policeman told a senior military officer his children are virtually prisoners in their own home after he received repeated threats from Taliban militants, who have carried out a series of targeted assassinations against Afghans who work with or support the United States and NATO.