Canadas counter-insurgency experiment get blessing from top general

BELANDAY, Afghanistan - When Capt. Jean Vachon's lost dog came back, the war against Taliban insurgents in Kandahar suddenly didn't seem so hopeless after all.
Vachon's platoon had moved into Belanday, a small town southwest of Kandahar city, as part of an experiment by military brass to have troops leave their fortified bases and live among the population.
In Belanday, the Canadians quickly adopted one of the town's stray dogs as part of their effort to reach out to locals.
"One day she went missing, and we thought... she's going to come back to us in pieces as a warning," Vachon said.
"But no, the villagers brought her back to us."
For Vachon, the simple gesture made him realize it was still possible to earn the trust of Afghans and the way to do so lay in what has become known as the model-village approach.
Its success has been much talked about at NATO headquarters and lauded by U.S. generals.
But now as Canada's new commander in Afghanistan prepares to refocus the mission's efforts on Kandahar city, the future of the model-village approach is uncertain.
Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard considers Kandahar the "centre of gravity" of the insurgency and has promised to increase troop levels in the city.
Menard says he remains committed to the model-village approach initiated by his predecessor, Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance.
"We're not choosing between Kandahar City and the model villages," he said in a statement to The Canadian Press.
"We are going to do both."
Resources, however, will be an issue. A surge in Kandahar may mean pulling troops from the areas southwest of the city, where in the districts of Dand and Panjwaii Canadians have been concentrated since the summer carrying out model-village projects.
Menard expects the resource question to be resolved in the near future.
"Coalition resources are likely to be assigned to TFK that will allow us to improve security, enhance stabilization and speed reconstruction for the people of Kandahar City while continuing with model villages on the approaches," his statement read, alluding to the possibility more American troops may be posted to his command.
If Menard carries through with his intention, it will represent the consolidation of a dramatic shift in Canada's counter-insurgency strategy.
Belanday is an illustration of how Canadian soldiers adapted to Vance's approach and turned the town from a no-go zone into an oasis of calm in the Taliban hinterland.
By the time Vachon's platoon was posted to Belanday in August, many had grown disillusioned with the tactics Canada was using to fight the Taliban.
"Canada has been here since 2002 and has been using kinetic tactics since then," said Patrice Chartrand, a warrant officer in Vachon's platoon.
"That's seven years, longer than the Second World War, and the situation seemed to be getting worse."
Chartrand said he felt like operations designed to disrupt the Taliban, which often involved moving from compound to compound kicking down doors, ended up disrupting innocent locals more than the enemy.
Chartrand and Vachon sat down together to figure out how they would apply Vance's orders.
"We tried to think of a system that could bring about a partnership, a collaboration between villagers and the police," said Chartrand.
When soldiers of Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment arrived in Belanday in July, they discovered a unit of 40 Afghan National Police under virtual siege in a burnt-out compound. As the Canadians took up residence with them, they too became the target of mortar attacks.
"When we arrived it was a ghost town," Vachon said in an interview on his last day in Belanday. "There was no one who wanted to speak with us."
Vachon and his men originally thought sympathy for the Taliban ran deep, given the hostility the locals showed the ANP.
But they quickly discovered the police had it coming.
"They were taxing the population," he said. "They were stealing from gardens, they were hitting people, and they didn't speak the language. There was a complete disconnect from the population."
Composed of mainly Dari speaking Tajiks from northern Afghanistan, the police had effectively been stranded in the village without pay and had little food to support themselves.
Things changed quickly. Vachon's platoon provided the ANP with food, fuel and protection. When they saw a police officer kick an old man, they knew they had to change their behaviour too.
"I said starting from right now it's going to be smiles and handshakes," Chartrand said.
The relationship between the ANP, the Canadians and the villagers gradually improved. Villagers returned as Vachon offered locals a living wage to paint walls, dig irrigation canals and erect fences.
Vachon made sure if the villagers were promised something, it was delivered - including security.
During a Taliban mortar attack on the platoon house in August, a shell hit a neighbouring compound, badly injuring a nine-year girl.
Desperate, the locals brought her to the Canadians who waved usual restrictions to have her taken by helicopter to the military hospital at Kandahar Airfield.
Though the girl died, Canadian soldiers came across the mortar team several days later, killed them and showed the weapon to the girl's father.
"At that moment we went from words to actions," said Lt. Jeremie Verville, who served under Vachon.
Not long after, locals started approaching the Canadians to point the location of Taliban observation posts. They also began using a hotline to indicate where IEDs had been laid.
But the approach is not without its critics. Non-governmental development workers are leery about the military engaging in development project.