"There is a tribal structure there that's been in place for a long time," said [Tim Grant], who is on leave in Edmonton. "And for the federal government to come in and try and regulate it, Pakistan has the same challenges that we had during the Oka crisis."

"I think they believed ... you hit them hard enough and they would run. They've learned you can't do that."

"The local people are becoming part of the security solution," Grant said. "They'll come up to patrols that we have on the ground, saying, 'There's a weapons cache over there,' or 'They've placed a roadside bomb over in this location.'