Canadians see signs of progress in Afghanistan

Washington Times:

When Canadian tanks and troops roll along the dirt tracks that connect villages in rural southern Afghanistan, many farmers turn from their grapevines and poppy fields to stare.

Some smile. Occasionally they wave.

It is the waving that thrills the soldiers of Battalion Royal, 22nd Regiment, Battalion Group. They take it as evidence that the locals sense a difference between them and the Americans who used to patrol these desolate rural villages.

"The best are the children," said Trooper Michael Hayakaze. "When the kids come running up to the road and they smile, it's the best.

"When we first showed up, you know, they used to run and hide, or they would throw stones at our tanks. And you know they get that from their parents, so if they're not afraid of us, that means it's getting better."

The 2,500 Canadian soldiers and their officers will not publicly criticize their U.S. counterparts; there is too much respect between the allies to allow for that.

But like many of the NATO allies fighting in Afghanistan, they find themselves in a two-front public-relations war — struggling for the cooperation of the Afghans as well as the support of a skeptical public at home. And in such a war, perceptions are as important as territory and body counts.

...

Poll after poll shows support for Afghan combat is dwindling in Canada, as it is in other countries that have taken significant casualties. Canadians account for more than one-third of the 220 NATO troops who have been killed since 2002 in the United Nations-endorsed action.

About 40,000 soldiers from 39 countries are participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has become the biggest test of NATO's ability to function as an effective alliance since the end of the Cold War.

But restrictions imposed by various governments have left the heaviest fighting to just a handful of countries besides the United States — principally Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and Denmark.

...

The soldiers of these mechanized squadrons are enthusiastic about the mission and are genuinely committed to defeating the "bad guys," as the insurgents, foreign fighters, Taliban, al Qaeda and anyone else with a mortar or IED is collectively known.

But these fighters are often from the local villages and are adept at shedding their weaponry and blending in with the local population whenever ISAF soldiers come around. The trick, say anti-insurgency experts, is to win over the local populations so they stop protecting the fighters and start sharing useful information.

The majority of coalition work in southern Afghanistan involves security and patrols, with isolated raids to push back the insurgency — often clearing areas that had been captured just a year before.

...

There is much more. There is some of the clap trap about how the US is too mean to the enemy, but for the most part it is a pretty interesting story about the face of battle with the Canadians in Afghanistan. In one part it describes the experience of destroying a tall marijuana field.

"We had to walk through this stuff, and we all smelled like human doobies," snickered one 24-year-old corporal. "Oh, and the tanks. It got crushed up in the treads. The base smelled for days."

The story also describes the Improvised Explosive Devices that the Taliban are now using. They appear to lack the sophistication of the ones in Iraq.