Renovations, new construction, and landscaping are completing the campus's transformation from the war-torn Afghan Air Corps training center to Afghanistan's premier educational institution. The last Soviet era relics are being hauled off (see photo) and replaced with Dell computers, wireless internet, elliptical exercise machines, and many other symbols of 21st century progress. 95% of this effort is underwritten by the American taxpayer.

We recently completed the admissions process for the Class of 2011. In February 350 young men from 32 of 34 provinces, representing all ethnicities, will begin Cadet Basic Training. It�s my guess that a comparison of the selection process we used would adhere closely to the spirit of American Affirmative Action policies. Only 8% of the order of merit list required manipulation to meet provincial and ethnic balance goals. Even though admission board members (one each Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek) are committed Afghan nationalists, they struggled to suppress their underlying ethnic loyalties. I was quietly amused by their contained passions.

Well over a foot of snow fell on Christmas Day in Kabul (5,900 ft. elevation). Yet the city kept moving, with the good people driving and trudging along without missing a beat. A quick survey of the surrounding mountains reveals that inhabitants in those higher elevations have much harsher conditions to endure and makes it easier to understand why combatants in this part of the world suspend operations for "winter quarters." The current lull in insurgent violence is obviously welcome, but begs the question of what warmer weather will bring.

Happy New Year!
Paul