"We Have the Cleanest Camp; We Have the Cleanest Washrooms; We Have the Best Water. That's Just the Way We Are."

The above quote seems peculiarly Canadian, somehow. The man who said it is Lt.-Col. Paul Davies, who built Camp Julien, the Canadian Forces outpost in Afghanistan.

The camp is beginning to wind down operations as the CF Afghanistan contingent prepares to move from Kabul (where the camp is) to Kandahar (where current reconstruction operations are taking place).

The closing down of the camp (which should be completed around December) is actually a good sign that things in Afghanistan are going well. The CF won't be completely out of Kabul -- there'll still be about 50 personnel there -- but when you consider that Camp Julien was meant to house 3000 troops, and that 1750 are planned for the new camp at Kandahar, it's not a big reach to realize that Afghanistan's not likely to become the quagmire that some garish folks think it will become.

As for the above quote, well hey -- clean washrooms and clean water are important for an army encampment, don't you think?