Jag001
I'd say on the ground the rebels are pretty evenly matched in terms of technology - portable TI/NVG/IR kit is all buyable from Russian arms dealers for the right price. What the rebels do lack is platforms to deliver the goods ie. air power, although if CAS is so stretched as to be half an hour away they would certainly hold a temporary advantage from a hillside.
As for the farmers, I can see them becoming beneficiaries of EU subsidies in a similar fashion to farmers in Europe who get paid not to produce less contentious crops! That would be an immediate solution to Afghanistan, but we'd have to accept the stuff would just be grown elsewhere to meet market demand. In the longer term we would have to find something sustainable or simply keep paying a subsidy. Apart from growing diamonds, nothing immediately springs to mind.
Ironically the US invasion of Iraq has put that country into a very similar state as Afghanistan - tribal feuds and warlords - so logic would follow that we need to exile Saddam to Afghanistan...and perhaps put him in power! In both countries simply marching in and announcing democracy was just never going to work; with Iraq you could argue it was worth a go, in the absence of knowing any different, but we should have known better in Afghanistan. But then we should also know better than to expect to be able to burn people's livelihoods without then getting a bit anti - but I haven't heard a definitive policy yet...
I don't know if the Taleban burned poppies - you would expect so, in line with the Islamic directives on intoxicants, but then drugs still came from there in large quantities during their regime. Perhaps they found it too difficult (even with far harsher prevention methods than us), or perhaps they got over their morals when they realised the proceeds could be used to fund pious enforcement! Let's not forget the Taleban's version of Islam was only their interpretation and, as such, is open to convenient revue!
Re-equipping the Afghan Army is undoubtedly required, but there's no point doing so now unless they have a good reason to fight. While the Taleban were universally hated, so are other invaders and a common enemy has tended to focus tribal attentions over the centuries. If I joined the Afghan Army tomorrow I might get a bit of action against the Taleban, but I'll probably also get to help burn my uncle's business. In terms of ideology the only thing the Afghans tend to get motivated and united for is to repel a foreign invader.
Currently that's us.