Winning hearts

There is an old axiom of war that states, "If you win their hearts, you can win their minds."

Canada went in to Afghanistan in 2002. But it took until 2008 and the departing speech of the Canadian commander-in-country Major General Marc Lessard before someone suggested that maybe the eons old tribal factions in Afghanistan might have something to do with the on-going struggle and maybe, just maybe, it was time to engage the tribes as part of the strategy.

There is another old axiom of war. "Power the the people, baby."