When the occupiers are seen as natives

I saw an interview with Gen. McChrystal on CBS the other day. It was quite astonishing: I mean, it was a PR gig for the man and for the mission. He said about what he was doing in Afghanistan: "If they view us as occupiers, we can't win." What will they view you as? What do you aspire that they will view you? That if you wave to the natives and smile at them (even if you decrease the bombs over their heads) they will then accept you as part of the Afghan population? When I hear American commanders in Iraq or Afghanistan (or their leaders in Washington, DC whether in the Obama or Bush administrations), you really think that those people have never ever read about previous colonial administration. Because they don't seem to notice that they sound exactly like previous colonial conquerors.