All warfare is intertwined with politics in some way. But in our latest edition of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson talks with acclaimed author Sebastian Junger (famous for The Perfect Storm) about the experience of war.
Beginning in 2007, Junger embedded for fourteen months with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, making five trips to the Korengal Valley of eastern Afghanistan, a location that saw more combat than any other in the Afghan theater.
In the end, Junger finds war to both insanely exciting and fraught with complications. Whatever political rationale there is for war disappears once fighting begins – what’s left is the bond of the platoon and the willingness to do ones job, no matter the consequences.
As a news man Junger says that it is impossible to be objective when covering war, and that often that is okay. He discusses the role of the media and its biases in reporting on the war.
Junger argues that Afghanistan is a winnable war, but only if those involved have the political will to do what it takes to see a victory. He points out that all European countries have felt the threat of Al Qaeda, and warns that if we give up on putting Afghanistan back together that we will all feel that threat again.
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