I'm taken aback by interpretations of utterances by Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor and Defense Staff Chief Gen. Rick Hillier on the preparedness of the Afghan army units and their ability to take over the war effort.

The issue is timing, and the minister seemed to have a more optimistic view. Both were merely making educated guesses on a changing situation, and falling well within the parameters of reality.

A unit's preparedness is in the eye of the beholder.

Both the general and minister are regular army, bound to have standards well above any hastily recruited and trained levies often evident in conflicts.

There is added emphasis on training the Afghan security forces - army and police: a daunting task by any estimate.

We have to consider the damage that will be inflicted on the terrorists, and their will to resist, between now and early 2009. It's not all one-sided.

It's good to be cautious; both the minister and general have been. A few months ago, O'Connor said the Afghanistan situation is the type of situation we can expect over the next while. Some political and media foes tried to make political hay, saying he meant Afghanistan itself. No. He spoke generally, so to speak. He is right in that we can anticipate similar episodes: in Darfur, the Horn of Africa and other spots, where extremism meets poverty, disease and conflict.

We'll count ourselves lucky if it's only for 15 years or so.

One can imagine older soldiers dream of the “good old days” of NATO service in Germany, under the umbrella of nuclear Mutual Assured Destruction, and some UN peacekeeping in Cyprus or even Sinai.

Except for the governing Tories' recent conclave in Charlottetown - and their unavailability to the national media, poor dears -the political season has been lack-lustre.

I've looked to other venues for amusement.

I get a kick out of the local crow population. They are social animals - with ravens alleged to be among the most intelligent birds - and I really enjoy their carryings on.

At fast food restaurants, where they seek handouts and leavings, they have no fear of passers-by. They sometimes won't even move so you can get in the driveway. Driving into work one day, I had to wait while a crow put down a fry he got at a neighbouring restaurant and drank his fill from a puddle in the middle of the entrance way. He seemed to know motorists aren't going to risk getting their cars scratched up by forcing a game of chicken. They are so laid back, they often don't trouble themselves with flying from yard to yard - they just walk.

Driving through neighbourhoods where residents don't crow-proof their garbage on collection day, I can't help but notice the crows will hop from property to property to tear the bejeesus out of the bags. I wonder just what they are after, because I sometimes see them flying off with some bizarre material - foil or plastic. Maybe a new addition to the nest? Then, of course, all the neighbouring crows want the same thing for their abodes.... Who knows?

The murder that patrols my neighbourhood on garbage day was late last week. The collection truck was gone a good hour before the huge birds arrived, cawing their disappointment - and no doubt appointing blame on some member of their murder.