The troops of the Netherlands work in Uruzgan province, immediately north of Kandahar province, which is where Canada's troops are located. However, the Dutch are having an easier time of it than the Canadians. Could it be the Dutch have a gentler touch with the locals?

An excerpt from The Globe and Mail story:

TIRIN KOT, AFGHANISTAN — At the age of 23, Nisar Ahmad has seen a lot of fighting. His gang of Barakzai tribesmen was the first militia to reach Kandahar behind a wave of U.S. bombs in 2001, grabbing power in the city as the Taliban fled. The same Barakzai warriors chased the Taliban north into the mountains of Uruzgan province, and spent the past five years hunting around these craggy peaks and rolling valleys alongside U.S. special forces.

Four months ago, the hunt ended. The Dutch military took command of Uruzgan, and immediately told Mr. Ahmad's men to stop their raids and ambushes. His militia of 250 battle-hardened fighters was given a new assignment: guard duty.

On a recent afternoon, Mr. Ahmad watched his men play soccer in the confines of a Dutch military base known as Kamp Holland, and he seemed pleased with his new, quiet life.

“In the last four months, this province is safer,” he said. “I'll tell you why. When you treat people badly, it comes back at you. When you treat people well,” he said, gesturing at the quiet provincial capital of Tirin Kot, slumbering in the valley below the Dutch base, “this is the result.”
 
 The Dutch went into Uruzgan expecting the same kind of bloody welcome that Canadians have found in Kandahar. Both provinces are considered volatile strongholds of the Taliban insurgency. Special forces operating in Uruzgan encountered daily attacks this summer. So the 1,400 Dutch troops that began arriving in early August came prepared for battle.

But the bloodbath never happened. This past week, the first four-month rotation of Dutch troops started to leave Uruzgan after having completed 400 patrols, established two forward bases and started the slow work of building roads, bridges, schools, and clinics — all without a single soldier killed in action, and just two injuries from hostile forces.

There have been just seven ambushes and 18 roadside bombs in four months; Canadian troops have suffered worse in a single week.

The success is fragile, Dutch commanders caution, and might be partly the result of luck, insurgents focusing on battles elsewhere or the cautious pace of their arrival. But the early results in Uruzgan also suggest that something these commanders call the “Dutch philosophy” is worth a hard look. It's a strategy focused on supporting the local government rather than killing its supposed enemies, talking with the Taliban instead of fighting them, and treading carefully with an understanding of how little any foreigner knows about this untamed country.

On Nov. 28, the Globe published a story by Smith in which he ventured into Baluchistan province of Pakistan and interviewed two purported Taliban officials. Here's part of that story:

"There is a big difference between Canada and the United States," Mr. Azizullah said, tapping his fingertips together in a pensive gesture.

"If we attack the Canadians, they call for aircraft and bomb everything in the area. The U.S. only tried to kill the Taliban. The Canadians try to kill everybody."

Christie Blatchford went somewhat ballistic over this allegation.