U.S. soldiers with 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment and Canadian civil affairs troops talk with an elder in the village of Ashoque in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. U.S. and Canadian forces are trying to win over villagers in the district with promises of aid projects, but the effort in Ashoque has only just begun, and villagers remain wary of associating too closely with foreign troops. Dec. 2, 2009 DREW BROWN/STARS AND STRIPES