GETTING THEM TO TET THEMSELVES IS THE HARD PART:

1,000 Taliban slain, NATO says: Canadians help inflict 'tactical defeat' (PAUL KORING AND GRAEME SMITH, 9/22/06, Globe and Mail)

More than 1,000 Taliban fighters were killed in the Canadian-led attacks west of Kandahar, NATO supreme allied commander General James Jones said Wednesday.

That body count far exceeds previous estimates for Operation Medusa, the massive military assault launched in early September to drive Taliban fighters from a stronghold in Panjwai district in the province of Kandahar.

Gen. Jones said North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces inflicted a “tactical defeat” on the Taliban, eliminating between one-quarter and one-half of the movement's overall fighting strength.

However, “I don't think they've been totally defeated,” he acknowledged, predicting that the Taliban would return to guerrilla hit-and-run tactics rather than the stand-and-fight battle that resulted in their defeat.