It Affects US too!

   How does the war affect us? No matter how you put it, we all as citizens are affected by the Iraq and Afghanistan war in some way, shape, or form. Some of us may have had a loved one who served in the war, or served in the war ourselves. These wars not only affected our safety but our nation's safety as a whole.

U.S. Marines and Afghan police in Afghanistan. 

      Although the war has technically been declared over, our economy is a ways away from paying off these wars. In my opinion, many Americans, with the exception of some, are under the impression that the war won’t affect them since they weren't the ones on the line of war. In a random interview at UC Berkeley students were asked how they were affected by the war, and they received a wide range of responses. Most students replied saying they didn't feel affected besides the fact that they felt remorse for the soldiers' lives. Others mentioned that they felt rather uninformed by the war, and the fear of the unknown affected them personally. But no one seemed to mention the financial affects the war had on them. 

     The war in Iraq and Afghanistan has cost the US between $4 and $6 trillion according to Harvard University's Kennedy School. As you can infer, these wars put us in a lot of debt, and guess who has to pay for it? We do. Nearly 1.6 million troops have returned from the war and many of them are in need of medical treatment, mental repair, and benefits. According to usnews.com the cost of that will eventually add up to over $836 billion. This doesn't even include equipment repair. Every US citizen will continue to pay for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars for years to come in bills and taxes.

       The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are wars that will never really be over. People should realize that war doesn't just affect those involved. The war is our reality and just because we’re not in uniform doesn't mean we won’t reap the consequences.  Americans are unaware of the financial burdens war includes, but they have plenty of time to realize because the rise of taxes from this war will be around for a while.