Sebastian Junger, director of the Oscar-nominated war documentary Restrepo and its upcoming sequel Korengal, argued that an increase in troop numbers was needed during the initial stages of the war in Afghanistan in an interview Wednesday.
In an appearance on Morning Joe, Junger, who opposed the Iraq War, said of Afghanistan, "I think the problem wasn’t that we went there, it was that we didn’t go there enough. We went there with 15,000 troops. There’s 40,000 cops in New York City—that wasn’t going to work."
Junger lived with a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan to film his documentary, and observed that "The Afghans knew it, and they were all waiting for it to fall apart. And it took ten years to do that."
Junger also expressed surprise at the outcome of the recent elections, saying "I didn’t expect this, but the election was kind of a success. I didn't see it coming."