October 2011 will mark the 10-year anniversary of the American invasion of Afghanistan. After a decade of war and thousands of lives lost, should the United States and NATO remain in the country? A war veteran says yes, while two Cornell professors disagreed in a roundtable discussion Jan. 31.

In its kickoff spring event to launch its new student-run news blog, The Diplomacist, the Cornell International Affairs Review drew more than 50 people to the A.D. White House for the discussion, "One Decade Later: NATO's Commitment to Afghanistan."

Cornell professor of government Ron Herring expressed his ardent opposition to the American invasion, which stems back to 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks. Since, as he said, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had stated in public, "There was no way of knowing if American efforts to eliminate terrorism were creating more terrorists or not, and because the downside risks of invasion were very obvious -- destabilization and Talibanization of nuclear Pakistan -- American soldiers have been sacrificing their lives and the lives of Afghan people for no good reason." Herring, who said he was criticized for openly opposing the invasion of Afghanistan as illegal and counter-productive before the invasion, argued for an immediate removal of troops from Afghanistan.

Professor emeritus of science and technology studies Judith Reppy, a weapons expert and former director of Cornell's Peace Studies Program (recently renamed the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies), agreed with Herring's analysis of the conflict in Afghanistan, adding that involvement in the war was "all about NATO and not about Afghanistan." She suggested that NATO's decision to interfere in the Central Asia region came out of ulterior motives to "rehearse [their] forces for other kinds of wars," instead of a genuine concern for the Afghan people. Although Reppy also supported an end to the war, she said she recognized that removing troops is easier said than done. Afghanistan, which relies largely on child soldiers and ranks among the most corrupt administrations in the world, would be incapable of a smooth transition if troops were abruptly withdrawn, she said.

Rodrigo Zapata '13, a war veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and studies development sociology and global health at Cornell with aspirations of becoming a doctor, offered a firsthand perspective. "War is such a complex thing, [it] is the most ugly creation man has ever come up with."

Zapata said that he has seen close friends die in the midst of war and developed close relationships with the Afghan people while helping them rebuild schools and roads. He added that the country needs help, and as a result, some form of American presence will always be necessary.

"Even though I've experienced the most horrible things this world has offered ... I still think people can do good in this world. You can't just give up. You've got to keep going."

Joyce Wu '13 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.