SHAWALI KOT, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers found no weapons or Taliban during a recent foray into a region considered an insurgent stronghold, but they did get an earful from villagers who accused them of failing to keep their promises.
"Canadians have come here three times before and promised (to give us a well) but they've done nothing," said Haji Noor Mohammad, a leader in the desolate, poverty-stricken district of Shawali Kot.
The five-day sortie by members of the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment ended Tuesday with the soldiers having heard little from the villagers about the Taliban but plenty of griping about the "broken promises" of Canadians and Americans.
Everywhere they went, the Canadians were asked about the digging of new wells and the building of schools and mosques, while the Americans were criticized in one village for not building a school that was allegedly promised five years ago.
Discussing the Taliban was not uppermost on the minds of the villagers.
"Are the Taliban giving you problems?" Canadian Forces Capt. Stephane Girard asked Salim Ahmad, the leader of a village of about 100 people.
Ahmad's response, translated by an interpreter, was unequivocal: "There is no problem with the Taliban here."
He then went on to tell a visibly perplexed Girard that the Taliban have never been seen in the village.
Many of the locals kept their harshest words for the Afghan National Police.
"The police come here after the harvest and extort money from farmers," said Ahmad, echoing comments made in a neighbouring village.
The Afghan National Police is generally acknowledged as a poorly paid force seriously lacking both training and discipline. The RCMP is one of the international forces involved in providing the ANP with training under the Provincial Reconstruction Team effort.
Canadian Warrant Officer Hani Massouh said the best the Canadian military can do is to help the Afghan police become more professional and effective.
The Canadians are in touch with high-ranking officials of the ANP, whose members and command posts are increasingly becoming targets of Taliban insurgents.
Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's new military commander in Afghanistan, said recently the international community needs to work harder to make sure the Afghan police force is honest and respected.
Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
The Canadians are part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, whose mandate is to help establish the authority of the Afghan government across the arid country.
Parts of Afghanistan, especially in the south where the Canadians operate, are still under the influence of the Taliban movement that offered refuge to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization when it was in power.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban from Kabul.
