KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Lt.-Col Joe Paul is a believer -- not just in the Afghan mission as a whole, but in the hearts-and-minds approach that's underway in the "model village" of Deh-e-Bagh, the centrepiece of Canada's counter-insurgency strategy in Kandahar province.
"I always like to say that the Afghans are hostages in their own country. This is their situation as we speak in a lot of those villages," Paul, the 42-year-old commander of Canada's battle group in Afghanistan, said Tuesday in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"It is like they are caught between the bark and the tree."
Those "hostages" bore the brunt of an angry outburst Monday from Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, who convened an immediate shura with village elders after a Canadian soldier was injured by an improvised explosive device, or IED, on the village outskirts.
Tribal elders in Deh-e-Bagh were supposed to soundly reject the Taliban in exchange for substantial development help from Canada and Kandahar province. Residents, as well as the surrounding district of Dand, have since enjoyed better security and prosperity than neighbouring villages.
Roadside bombings, of course, weren't part of the deal.
"If we keep blowing up on the roads I'm going to stop doing development," fumed Vance as he demanded to know why the bomb went unreported -- and why his soldiers seem to be going it alone.
"If we stop doing development in Dand, I believe Afghanistan and Kandahar is a project that cannot be saved. There has to be a change starting now and we need to make sure the roads stay clear of IEDs."
Rank-and-file soldiers, most of whom weren't willing to speak out about Vance, said privately Tuesday that they supported the brigadier-general and shared his frustration.
But to suggest that it's possible to render any part of Afghanistan completely free of danger would be fantasy, said Paul, who carries a degree in anthropology.
"Despite the fact we have (cleared the region of Taliban) and the fact we are living there, the Taliban still can cast their ballot and sometimes they will sneak in and try and engage us," he said.
"They will try to plant an IED. To have an area where you can say you are 100 per cent (safe), it doesn't exist in Afghanistan. You've really got to be on your guard all the time."
On Monday, Vance said he's not asking for miracles, just a show of good faith in return for all the good work that the coalition -- particularly the Canadian contingent -- is doing in the district.
"You don't change the population, any population, overnight. We've been here in Dand district for three months - it's had thirty years of screwed up," he shrugged.
"Certainly part of the approach is to start to demand some performance in the population."
He opted for a shura with village leaders because it is an integral part of Pashto culture.
"In their culture it is appropriate to demand retribution. I just try and remind them what we're really here for which is to do that build," Vance said.
"I will confess that in the Pashtun culture, in which is there is an element of poetry that goes along with it, sometimes it helps to use very descriptive words, very personal words with them."
Vance said the Deh-e-Bagh model is not in any danger. It's all just part of how things work in Afghanistan: progress is usually very slow and setbacks are legion.
"We're not in danger of losing it," he said, "but you have a setback on a day and a soldier gets hurt and it unfuriates me."
Building trust with the Afghan people is going to take time, said Paul. The Canadian soldiers and civilian workers are not Muslim, nor from Afghanistan, which means the only way to win them over will be with concrete action.
"It's a war of words between us and the Taliban, to a certain extent," he said.
"We can help them open clinics and schools, but we have to do more than talking about it. We have to deliver."
