Sebastian Junger Looks Back

Oct. 7, 2002 -- On Oct. 7, 2001, almost a month after the attacks on America, the much-awaited, and for some, much-dreaded retaliation finally began.

As Northern Alliance troops, aided by U.S. air power began their assault on the Taliban, journalist-author Sebastian Junger entered northern Afghanistan on special assignment with ABCNEWS to cover the war in the ravaged Central Asian nation.

A year after the military campaign in Afghanistan began, he spoke about his experience covering the war with ABCNEWS.com's Leela Jacinto.

ABCNEWS.com: One year after the military campaign in Afghanistan began, how would you assess the situation there?

Sebastian Junger: Well, the good news is that the country is still — basically — at peace. It's not a unified democracy the way we think of it, but it's so much better than at any point in the last 23 years. I think that will continue — and improve — entirely dependent upon the international community, specifically the United States.

The last two peacekeeping efforts we've been part of — Kosovo and Bosnia — have been wildly successful. And it was partly because we flooded those countries with a massive amount of reconstructive aid and peacekeepers — there were about 50,000 peacekeepers in Kosovo, it's a country of 2 million. There's only something like 5,000 peacekeepers in Afghanistan, and it's a country of about 20 million.

I don't know why ... it's a completely self-fulfilling prophecy: Afghanistan is too chaotic to risk peacekeepers, so you only put a few in. Well, that guarantees that chaos will eventually take over again. It's totally self-fulfilling and it breaks my heart for the Afghans, because they've suffered enough in all this.

ABCNEWS.com: You of course covered the war in Afghanistan last year for ABCNEWS. Looking back on that now, were there any particularly memorable experiences?

Sebastian Junger: Well, the most obvious memorable experience was taking Kabul. We were with them, some of the lead Northern Alliance units. I didn't know what we would get. I mean, I was an American and the American Air Force has just finished bombing them and civilians had died, I mean by accident, but still...

And we got in there and the Northern Alliance was cheered wildly. They were received incredibly warmly and even Americans were cheered. People were shouting "America, America" on the streets because they knew that without the U.S. they would not be liberated from the Taliban.

To see a city in that kind of jubilation ... it's something that as a journalist, as a person — and frankly as an American because we played such an important role in that — was incredible. It was an experience I'll never forget because I don't think it will ever be repeated, for me.

ABCNEWS.com: So you've never watched a city being liberated before?

Sebastian Junger: No, no.

ABCNEWS.com: And you recommend it?

Sebastian Junger: I recommend it, yes, yes (laughs). My father grew up in Paris and he came to this country in World War II. Of course I heard about the liberation of Paris and all that. These are things that are in the realm of myth for me and I finally got to see that. It was a very powerful experience.