Last week, the major new facility for Higher Learning opened in Khost Afghanistan
Located in Khost province, 200km away from the capital Kabul, the Zayed University was built at the cost of $4.8 million. It will offer courses in medicine, engineering, agriculture, technology, Islamic studies, arts, literature and education.
And it wasn't built by the Western countries; it was built by the United Arab Emirates
The university was built thanks to a generous grant by the late UAE President His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan...
In remarks after the inauguration ceremony, Al Mazroui reiterated the UAE's commitment to help the Afghan people in health, education, reconstruction, and humanitarian spheres. He said the opening of the university underscored the commitment of Shaikh Khalifa to fulfil the vision of the late Shaikh Zayed.
But it turns out, that the UAE is doing much more than going around offering humanitarian aid. According to the BBC
The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, can reveal that Arab soldiers have been taking part in dangerous missions alongside US troops in Afghanistan.
Troops from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been delivering humanitarian aid to their fellow Muslims and, on occasion, fighting their way out of Taleban ambushes. Though Jordanian forces have been carrying out some base security duties, the UAE's troops are the only Arab soldiers undertaking full-scale operations in the country.
Until now, their deployment has been kept so secret that not even their own countrymen knew they were here....
...these are not the only coalition troops giving out aid to Afghans. But what is really winning hearts and minds is the Islamic connection....
"We make a contract with the US Army to help the people down here, not to fight".
But I put it to him that in fact his troops have been fighting insurgents as well as handing out aid.
"If we have any types of personal attacks we react with fire. And after that we go to the elders in this area: 'Why are you shooting us? We came here to help you.
"'If you have the same picture of all coalition forces, we are different. We came here to help you.'
"And we try to convince the people about the US, about British. They came here to give you peace."
The same type of Counter-Insurgency (COIN) strategy operating in Iraq is the model here.
The Emirati approach is to meet their fellow Muslims' religious needs first, then build schools and clinics later.
But for this to have a wider, lasting, and national effect, the blueprint would need to be repeated and expanded by others, many times over and throughout Afghanistan.
And that is not likely to happen in the near future.
But the efforts put forth by the UAE is a great start and perhaps other Muslim nations will feel encouraged to help.
And there is no better advertisement for success than, well, success.
