The terms victory in Afghanistan and the redevelopment of the broken nation seemed far simpler 10 years ago to Army Lt Col Kenneth Ratashak , former commander of the N.C . State Army ROTC detachment.
However, the mission of combating al-Qaeda and those who support them—the Taliban—has remained unchanged.
“The Primary goal—get rid of al-Qaeda and dislodge the Taliban to undermine the safe haven for them to train,” Ratashak said. “That’s why we entered Afghanistan and we are still working to do this.”
The trials of nation-building
According to Ratashak , the only changes in Afghanistan are the strategies to achieve this goal, and after 10 years, the war has evolved into a mission of nation building.
After driving the Taliban out of power and helping install a parliamentary government under Hamid Karzai , the war shifted to one of securing the country and building infrastructure.
“First, you have to gain stability and gain trust between the people and their government,” Ratashak said. “Then create the stability of economic systems so that the government and people of Afghanistan could run their own country in a stable and sustainable manner.”
But according to Ratashak , the unforeseen obstacles of warfare, cultural subtleties and the history of conflict in Afghanistan have brought the altruistic idea of nation-building into contention.
Ratashak said issues confronting the mission include ethnic and tribal tensions, the role of religion in government and increasing influence from Taliban and terrorist networks based in the countryside and in Pakistan.
“What it really gets down to is the tribal cult,” Ratashak said. “Conflict is at the tribal level rather than the ethnic level, and tribal elders have a great influence in regional politics than provincial governors.”
Perspectives from the ground
Rataskak served 15 months in the eastern provinces of Paktia , Logar and Wardak on the border of Pakistan and considered his deployment between 2007 and 2008 to be the middle years in terms of progress in the war.
As battalion executive officer and key player in directing mission planning in these provinces of strategic and security importance, Ratashak collaborated with Afghan contractors and security forces to work on local development.
“The war is not fought in huge battles,” Ratashak said. “The small goals of building bridges, providing security, creating economic and business structure all add up.”
Ratashak worked to develop sustainable small businesses in eastern Afghanistan and his battalion brought in experts from the USDA to improve crop storage and agricultural efficiency.
Unforeseen problems
Implementing a Western system of government and economics in another country with different customs and folkways doesn’t go without encountering barriers.
“In Afghanistan, having operated under Soviet influence and with tribes and their own customs, the economic system seems to be more oriented to the government,” Ratashak said. “We have been raised under the concept of capitalism, but that is a tough thing to implement in a place where it’s not prevalent.”
However, much of the aid the United States supplies to the Afghan government doesn’t reach the populace because of rampant corruption. According to Ratashak , this causes distrust among Afghans toward their government.
“It is a delicate situation and for success there must be rule of law,” Ratashak said. “Part of it is to re-establish a bureaucratic system of law and order. It requires law that we consider fair to the people. Two, it requires a security force, the Afghan Police, who know and execute those laws for the benefit of the government. Then there is a justice system.”
According to Ratashak , these checks and balances rely on strict adherence, but unlike many nation-states, Afghanistan is comprised of seven distinct ethnic groups, each with smaller factions and tribes.
The Pashtun majority has controlled government power for decades, and this ethnic group, which resides mainly in the south and eastern portions of Afghanistan, abides by a strict code of tribal conduct that competes with national law, according to Ratashak .
“This code, Pashtunwali , predates Islam and it governs many Pashtuns ,” Ratashak said. “This ethnic majority has grown to be very powerful in the affairs of Afghanistan, and much of the Taliban strictly adheres to pashtunwali.”
The issue of national unity has plagued Afghanistan since the arrival of ethnic minorities throughout the country’s history, and a factor contributing to the instability of the country comes from historic factions and disputes.
Ratashak experienced this first-hand in Logar province.
“These two tribes had a dispute over a piece of land,” Ratashak said. “One built a building on the piece of land. Each tribe would confront each other in force and riot because of the conflict. It was like an annual event.”
Foreign antagonism
The issue of Afghan security extends past its borders.
Due to historic alliances against the Soviets with former mujahedeen-turned-Taliban , the Pakistani ISI intelligence agency tolerates Taliban leadership and operations, according to Ratashak .
“I think during the invasion, we know there would be tenuous relationships,” Ratashak said. “We probably just didn’t realize how fragile these relationships would be. I don’t think we believed we would have the knowledge.”
In addition to the Taliban, which has support from both Afghan and Pakistani base populations, global terrorist networks like Al-Qaeda have incited violence and unrest. The majority of Al-Qaeda, according to the defense department, is comprised of Sunni Muslims mainly of Arab descent.
Refined approach
Before Afghanistan, the U.S . military was a post-Cold War garrisoned force according to Lt Col Chris Froeschner , commander of the University’s Air Force ROTC detachment. He said the military’s approach to training recruits hasn’t changed, but new recruits are coming in knowing what’s expected of them.
“At N.C . State, I ask my cadets, ‘are you all in?'” Froeschner said. “They know what is going on in the wars and they’ve experienced it growing up. They know they will most likely be deployed.”
The modern soldier deploys a lot, Froeschner said, and according to the Department of Defense, one-third of all servicemen have deployed two or more times.
Along with the soldiers fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom, tactics have changed since boots officially hit Afghan soil.
According to Froeschner , along with nation-building, the Air Force has played a large role in counterterrorism with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
“The Air Force has increased its UAV fleet within the past decade and it has been instrumental in spotting and taking out enemy combatants,” Froeschner said.
UAVs have been instrumental in Operation Enduring Freedom and their strikes reach further than the borders of Afghanistan, and western areas of Pakistan and the most recent strike in Yemen killing Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki have brought these tools of war into contention.
According to Froeschner , the UVA fighting force has opened up a new opportunity for unqualified candidates to become remote-based pilots.
Weighing cost and victory
As the longest war in U.S . history, Ratashak said many Americans have been considering if the war is worth the nation’s time and resources.
“It’s tough, you don’t really ever know what the outcome is going to be,” Ratashak said. “I think the other part of it is, if you win, if you win a war at the strategic level, you have to do things on the back side to make sure that win is a sustained win.”
To Ratashak , a sustained win involved strategies off the battlefield.
“World War II was a win and a sustained win,” Ratashak said. “The Marshall Plan in Europe is what made World War II a sustained victory. There was destruction and reconstruction.”
Moving forward, Ratashak said the future of Afghanistan will rely on the initiative of Afghan youth to take control of their country.
“If there are young people involved, I think they will be successful,” Ratashak said. In their culture, they respect the elderly. But when the youth gets educated, they can chose to lead, develop their country, as opposed to falling victim to Taliban propaganda.”
Despite being removed from the conflict for the past three years, Ratashak said a big piece to success in Afghanistan is developing trustworthy partners in government, a problem that has burdened current leadership. The Obama administration has on many occasions referenced the Karzai government as unreliable.
“We need to establish sustainable partnerships, which requires relying on the competency of the Afghan government officials,” Ratashak said. “Also, we have to trust the competence of the leadership and police, then their future is bright. If there is no cooperation or partnership from either side, then the future will be uncertain.”
