PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Hope for the best. Expect the worst.
So goes the philosophy of the man leading Canada's battle group into one of southern Afghanistan's most treacherous areas, with the spring fighting season just around the corner.
A winter of raiding Taliban redoubts for hidden weapons has Lt.-Col. Michel-Henri St-Louis feeling optimistic that the insurgents won't be able to muster the fierce attacks of years past.
"We are hoping," said St-Louis, who is in charge of the 1st Battalion, Royal 22e Regiment combat team, based at CFB Valcartier.
"The intent is to have the spike in violence either diminished, lulled or taken away. That will obviously make things better."
"I cannot stand here and say for sure in January that there will be no spike in violence, because the insurgent has a vote, and we will see how he reacts."
Others within the U.S.-led coalition predict much blood will be shed in the months to come.
During a recent visit to Kabul, the top U.S. military officer warned of more violence and casualties as coalition forces step up their attacks on the insurgents.
"As we continue our force levels and our operations over the summer ... we will likely see further tough casualties and levels of violence," Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week.
Mullen's comments echo those of the United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan, who has predicted the Taliban will mount "spectacular attacks" in the next few months.
Springtime in Afghanistan has been marked by an uptick in attacks on coalition troops as the insurgents return from their hideouts and resume fighting.
St-Louis hopes this spring will be different.
His combat team has been busy searching mud-walled compounds and grape huts for enemy weapons. Many insurgents have been captured or killed. Crews are carving a road through an area known as the Horn of Panjwaii, which has long been a Taliban hornet's nest.
St-Louis said it's his goal to have a presence in every town and village across the Panjwaii before the Canadian military winds up combat operations in Kandahar in July.
"Where the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police, Afghan national security forces are not present, the insurgents are present," he said.
"So by being in most or in all area, in all village clusters, being present through the district -- either with persistent presence or with operations on a regular basis -- that's how we can avoid leaving insurgents areas to operate, freedom of movement and sanctuaries that they can exploit."
One such area is the village of Khenjakak in the southern part of Panjwaii.
On Monday, Canadian and Afghan troops swept the village for a third time after recently clearing part of it.
The soldiers -- roughly half of them Afghan, half Canadian -- cleared mud-walled compounds and uncovered several caches of weapons, which they destroyed.
Meanwhile, another group of Canadians provided support for an American-led operation in the nearby town of Rigwa'i.
