On his 20th birthday, Luc Logan was en route to the war fields of Afghanistan. Logan would spend the next year of his life navigating the battlefront, his worldly possessions in a rucksack as he weathered the uncertain Afghan terrain in a fight against the Taliban.

Logan remembers the implacable, distinct sound of bullets being sprayed at him from afar for the first time, noting the difference between shooting and being shot at. He recalls helping recover 19 bodies from a downed helicopter. He remembers using a tourniquet to contain the flow of blood from a soldier who was partially amputated on both legs after leaping from the aircraft.

For Logan and the thousands of other servicemen and women that have engaged and continue to engage in combat since the start of the Afghanistan War 10 years ago as of Friday, the war remains an everyday reality. Meanwhile, growing discontent has brewed at home with what many Americans have deemed an increasingly unpopular war.

William Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism and professor of public administration and international affairs at SU, like much of the general public, was initially on board with launching a ‘defensive war’ against the perpetrators of 9/11 10 years ago.

‘I think it was almost an essential action to take at the time. We were attacked in the most grievous way by al-Qaeda,’ he said, adding that enough intelligence was available at the time to implicate the terrorist organization.

Congress enacted a law called the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, passed by U.S. Congress three days after the attacks, permitting then-President George W. Bush to order the move into Afghanistan and coordinate military efforts as he saw fit.

Ten years later, on the back of strategic missteps and facing President Barack Obama’s goal of ending the U.S. military role in the region by 2014, Banks said U.S. forces are up against formidable odds in Afghanistan.

In the waning years of the Bush administration and into Obama’s term, the United States adopted a financially costly counterinsurgency — or a hearts-and-minds approach — to the war. As opposed to engaging in the region from a strictly militaristic standpoint, the United States has also devoted efforts to building infrastructure, municipal systems and improving the overall standard of living in the nation.

The cost, compounded with the amount of time, patience and commitment on the part of locals makes a counterinsurgent approach difficult, in Banks’ mind.

‘There’s a tremendous challenge over there, and it’s not too pretty,’ Banks said.

Jeffrey Treistman, former State Department policy adviser to the deputy prime minister of Iraq, called the current strategy in Afghanistan ‘confused and dyslexic, at best,’ also likening the United States’ efforts in the region to a game of Whack-a-Mole.

As U.S. forces attempt to ‘whack’ insurgents in one area, opposition crops up in other areas, said Treistman, a current doctorate candidate in the Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship.

Afghanistan operates on an informal network of tribes, built on a culture of archaic tribal and farming customs. Though advancements have been made in terms of human rights, childhood education and increasing gross domestic product, Treistman said, the United States imposition of infrastructure on the Afghan people is ineffectual.

‘Afghan problems require Afghan solutions. The United States is not in a position to dictate to the Afghan people how their future should be run,’ Treistman said, adding that any proposal cannot be sustained without input from the Afghan people.

The glaring political dichotomy in the region was recognizable to Logan, now a 22-year-old sophomore at SU hoping to transfer into Maxwell’s public policy program, as he and his unit patrolled five Afghan villages in proximity of the base he was located.

The fellow soldiers were well received and celebrated in the three pro-American villages surrounding the base. Afghans were far less receptive in the two pro-Taliban villages. Soldiers were denied access to village elders and were swept by a ‘creepy and quiet’ feel as they entered pro-Taliban territory.

‘The kids aren’t allowed to come talk to you, otherwise they’ll get hit by their parents and stuff,’ he said.

Logan said he would sometimes help run electricity to Afghan villages, only to have the electrical lines blown-up by the Taliban.

Entering the 10th year of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan, Treistman said he believes Pakistani and Indian relations pose the greatest threat to U.S. interests in the region. Pakistan has accused India of promoting anti-Pakistani sentiment in Afghanistan. Afghan officials are now working to bolster relations with India, Treistman said. The potentiality of a proxy war could result in dangerous ramifications, he said.

Due to the still-rocky economic climate, Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, said he believes Obama’s plan to carry out a complete troop drawdown by 2014 will come to fruition. The United States’ presence in Afghanistan will continue beyond 2014 in a nonmilitary capacity.

Banks said he feels the best bet in the region will be to train Afghan police and security forces to provide their own security. Afghan forces aren’t being trained in a quick or numerous enough fashion right now.

Scrutiny of the war has been well chronicled among the American public and media. But Banks and Treistman agree the United States’ presence in the country has not been without American successes. In addition to improved infrastructure in the nation, al-Qaeda has weakened significantly.

Banks added the U.S.-led firefight and death of Osama bin Laden in May possessed a high symbolic value.

‘He just stood for so much that was evil in our collective conscience,’ Banks said.

Logan, who is slated to return to the army after graduating in 2014, has witnessed the amount of good accomplished in the region. Logan said he enlisted with little but combat on his mind. As his year in Afghanistan progressed he realized the value of humanitarian efforts.

He recalled running humanitarian patrols on villages and being flooded by children eagerly awaiting handouts of candy.

The Afghan children Logan encountered also had a particular fondness for pens. The children would tug and squeeze at the sleeve of his combat uniform, where a flap was designated for pens, even when none were inside. Moments like these warmed Logan’s heart.

‘I knew why we went, but I wasn’t quite sure why were staying. And then, once I got there, it all made sense.’

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on October 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong