Afstan is all about winning hearts and minds

Ours. Two good summaries of the situation (one in the Globe and Mail, with only a couple of cheap shots) make a similar key point:

1) Globe and Mail:

As Kandahar rebuilds, the clock is ticking

The goal of the Taliban is much simpler. They don't have to defeat the ISAF forces. They simply have to inflict enough casualties so that political support for the mission among ISAF nations erodes. The Taliban think in terms of decades. The coalition countries think in terms of months. And the clock is ticking.

Right now, it's a race - between the coalition's ability to build the capacity for Afghanistan to stand on its own two feet and the ability of the Taliban to influence Canadian public and political opinion with attacks designed to inflict casualties among Canadians. The finish line is 2009...

2) Ottawa Citizen:

State of a nation

The Taliban know that western public opinion reacts severely to casualties, so the act of killing becomes more important than taking ground in the classic military manner. They are aware of the massive media coverage that is generated in Canada by every fatal casualty, and the subsequent downturn in public support for the mission...

...Success will not come overnight. It will take patience, understanding, and continued dedication to the mission, but there is much to build on.

Ironically, the final outcome depends upon what happens a half a world away, in the capitals of the 37 nations that are in Afghanistan to help that country back onto its feet. Precipitous decisions to pull out would have a devastating effect.

Canada, with its own looming decision point, is in a position to set a good or bad example for others to follow.

With things slowly but surely moving in the right direction, it would be disastrous if Afghans were abandoned at such a critical stage. A decision to "cut and run" would mean writing off the human and material cost of our nation's deep investment in Afghanistan at a time when our return on that investment is increasingly evident, and a successful outcome increasingly within reach.

Gen. (Ret'd) Paul D. Manson is president of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute. He was chief of the defence staff from 1986 to 1989.

Update: Our hearts and minds are far from being won:

...a survey by Decima Research, provided exclusively to The Canadian Press, found that only 26 per cent of respondents believed the military mission should be extended "if that is necessary to complete our goals there."

Two thirds, or 67 per cent, said Canadian troops should do their best but must stick to the deadline and leave in February 2009...

Meanwhile, this story was not reported in either the Globe and Mail or the Ottawa Citizen; no wonder Canadians have such a limited view of what is happening in Afghanistan:

[Dutch] Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende [at a news conference with PM Harper] said he recognized the important of bringing stability to Afghanistan.

"The international community has a long-term responsibility towards Afghanistan," he said.

"We cannot allow it to become a failed state again."

There are about 2,000 Dutch soldiers in central Afghanistan's Oruzgan province, compared with 2,500 Canadian soldiers stationed in the south...