Ganulv posted:
Returning to the issue of counterinsurgency, is there real evidence that providing healthcare is a successful means of winning hearts and minds?* I’m not trying to be a troll here but rather am seriously asking whether the concept can truly be said to rise above the level of assertion.
Certainly in my reading on the campaign in Malaya and especially Oman there are references to the impact of providing basic medical aid in locations that had none.

My impression is that basic medical aid - in Oman - helped secure the loyalty of local people as proof the new Sultan cared before more extensive and expensive options arrived, such as building roads.