pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance... sun tzu in the art of war.

To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting... sun tzu (above pic is summit lake, waterton national park)

i can't believe i'm quoting Sun-tzu. but, he was wise, my grasshoppers.

i have this theory.

fact: canadian troops are dropping like flies in afghanistan.

i'm not a peace-nik, in this case.

however, i think they are going about the war on terrorism in the wrong way.

first, and this is a biggie, they shouldn't have tipped off the enemy in this latest battle which saw 4 canadian troops die. don't warn the locals of the impending battle. that was suicidal. it showed a certain disrespect for the abilities of the taliban and a bit of arrogance on the part of the canadians. once you become overconfident, you're toast.

it's like going into the superbowl, giving the opposing team your playbook, shouting out each play beforehand, and still believing you're still going to win...not likely.

the overall strategy as communicated by the head honchos seemed to be to maintain the "nice guy" image of canadians. well, four of them are dead as a result.

second, the canadians are using conventional means and weapons to defeat an insurgency. well, forget the armoured vehicles traveling in convoys. forget the uniforms. even forget the base at the kandahar airport. instead, wear the local garb. buy some toyota pickup trucks. mount a machine gun in the back of each truck. live amongst the villagers. establish 1-2 man outposts surrounding the villages. get to know the people. recognise strangers in the villages. stay quiet. gather intelligence. wait.

it's called a counter-insurgency my grasshoppers. it's time to think and fight like the taliban.

at the rate the canadian army is adapting to the situation on the ground, they will never win nor put a significant dent in the aspirations of the taliban. until they do, they will be sittin' ducks.

for that reason, steve should bring 'em home.