Proffering trinkets and sugar to the Natives to bring them in closer to the forts and to sign treaties is no different than offering Democracy to a paternalistic culture wherein half the population, the women, are essentially chattel property and non-power holders in the economic and political arenas, a culture with no backdrop of representative governance and a religion that essentially forbids personal income tax. It's a tough sell, like giving Indians pocket watches and turning them into farmers. Our Westward expansion and our strategic, geopolitical maneuvering are close cousins. Hell, we still can't sort out the Imams/Medicine Men from the warriors. We're still combatting spirituality with science but what I see of the COIN mentality in this forum is encouraging. Some of these guys in the old days would be married to Indian women and eating dog and buffalo tripe from time to time. I mean, have any of our men even been in a Masjid in Iraq - you know, take off the boots, wash the face, hands, feet then sit quietly in the back? I don't know, you tell me. To a Jihadi, the God of our troops is nailed to a cross and telling you to turn the other cheek. That's part of the reason they view death in combat so differently than we do and it impacts their tactics and our anticipation of their moves as well. We've fought this fight before, many times.