Universities

We spent the last three days interviewing various professors and students at a few different universities - private, national, and religious.
Everybody was incredibly encouraging, helpful and generous with their time. We could not have been made more welcome.

It's exhausting and fascinating.

Many of the students are confident - they'll stand up, state their opinions, argue, come back with new ideas, although not many of the female students speak, even when I try to encourage them.
What strikes me is the diversity of opinion and hopes for the future. Many say they want democracy, others an Islamic Democracy (whatever that is), others want a theocracy.

Sabira (our fabulous indefatigable research assistant and translator), a Professor, and Mike and I visited Khatam Un Nabein, a new madrassa and university that will have amazing facilities. The professors stressed the compatibility of Islam and democracy ("anybody who sees them as incompatible is mis-interpreting Islam and/or democracy).
Every night we re-write the questionnaire, based on what we hear.

Some ideas that have surprised me:

Almost all students believe that the Americans aren't winning because they choose not to (they want to remain in Afghanistan for their own strategic purposes).

Some felt that not winning was a conflict between superpowers - Britain* and the US, who each pay the Taliban to kill the other's troops.

Most don't want NATO to leave now, just to win.

*the idea that Britain is still a superpower is surprising enough on its own.