A10's are clearly the fast air weapon of choice by those on the ground in the Stan...
Utter utter rubbish Adana. Have you been in Afghanistan lately?
I'm regularly out here in the Stan and I can tell you that the A-10, useful as it is in many situations is by no means the 'air weapon of choice'. It often takes too long to get overhead because of it's slow transit speed, and in the recent poor weather it has been virtually useless. People who advocate the A-10 and Skyraider type solutions to Afghanistan air support need to bear those aspects in mind.
I also wish people would stop referring to Afghanistan as a COIN operation. Iraq is a COIN op. Insurgents do hit and run. Terry however stands and fights, often from established trench and defensive positions and fighting them is described by the grunts as more akin to conventional war fighting.
Fast jets may be expensive, but they get there quicker and have the sensors ad weapons to engage in poor weather. The FACs I spoke to all preferred RAF CAS and/or AAC AH.
AC-130 would be very useful but is simply too expensive.