Americas Cost Of Wars Abroad And Domestic

Hartung, W. D. (2003, February 14). War without end? The costs of the new military buildup. United States. Retrieved July 15, 2005, from http://www.iansa.org/iraq

Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out. Clearly, the military is going above and beyond to try and prevent further lives from being taken.

Since this Friday is Remembrance Day, I decided to read an article about the veterans of Canada. This article was about the mental health of veterans when they return home from war, and how they need support. This article revealed that at least 70 veterans that went to war in Afghanistan, have died from suicide after their return home. In several cases, family members told the stories of their loved ones and gave information about their treatment and how they died.

Authorities not even aware of the spike in suicides in the 2/7 deployment. The Department of Veterans Affairs said that they don’t track suicide trends amount veterans of specific military units. The resulting suicide rate for the group is nearly four times the rate for young male veterans as a whole, and fourteen times that for all Americans.

Veterans make up seven percent of the American population, but they account for twenty percent of its suicides. Yes, that is indeed a real statistic, more importantly, what is the government, the people that ordered those men and women deliberately into harm’s way, doing about this tragedy. In light of recent conflicts the United States has been engaging in, such as the conflicts in the Middle East, a new silent killer of returning veterans, has become more visible to the public. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, has taken its toll recently on Veterans returning from the harsh

As a consequence of the stresses of war and inadequate job training, when they get out of the service many have fallen behind their contemporaries. If they are fortunate enough to become employed, many of them are unable to hold a job due to untreated PTSD and acquired addictions without services and counseling designed for them. These factors may place our returning veterans at a higher risk of suicide. In 2007, the US Army reported that there were 115 suicides among OIF/OEF veterans. This was the highest number of suicides reported since the Army started keeping track about 30 years ago. In general, the risk for suicide among these veterans was not higher than that found in the U.S. population (Tull). However, there are several programs and 24 hour suicide hotlines available for those that may contemplate committing suicide as an option.

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.” – John F. Kennedy. The American troops have always lived by this type of mentally and Kennedy is absolutely correct to say that Americans have to pay for it, especially our troops. Ever since the both World Wars, there has been an elevation on Traumatic cases within our soldiers regardless of their nation. However, the United States has become more aware of this on-growing situation, but just being more aware is not enough. We keep seeing a rise in the amount of these cases, and we are wondering, “When is this going to be fixed?” In order to understand this issue we need to go to the

The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been experienced not only on the battlefield but when they return, the war comes home with them. Military service members have to deal with the emotional and physical scars and the multiple civilian

The U.S. military produces some of the bravest most heroic men and women on earth. From the moment the oath of enlistment is made to the time of separation or retirement, these courageous souls endure a number of amazing, historic and sometimes unbelievable events. They are praise for their service and lift even higher for their sacrifice, although most are unaware of the true sacrifices are made by some of these men and women. The most visible sacrifices or “outer sacrifices” are loss of life or loss of limbs while the inner wounds are bouts with depression, sexual assault, divorce, and most common alcohol other drug abuse.

In this article, Peter Katel interviews veterans returning from Afghanistan. He tells us how one service member, Coleman Bean is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his first combat tour in Iraq. However, two years after returning home to South River, N.J., Sgt. Bean returned to duty. After that second deployment, the 25-year-old shot and killed himself. This shows us just how bad this awful disorder is, we need to stop ignoring the situation at hand and help or service men and women returning from war torn countries. Reading this article has given me incite on just how bad the situation is and will go well in my presentation.

(2012) suggest that suicide prevention strategies must be implemented by professionals who understand military culture and the unique pressures of social cohesion and mental health stigma. Braswell and Kushner (2012, p. 535) agree that efforts must be implemented in a way that “account for the lived experience of soldiers.” Although these recommendations are in line with a growing body of academic scholarship on the topic of military suicide, it will be difficult to implement successful policy without a better understanding of what is behind the difference and change in suicide rate. With incomplete information or a lack of causality, policymakers will be unprepared to determine if the outcomes of their actions are an improvement compared to maintenance of current

The result of these mismatched priorities? A Harvard paper predicts that the combined costs of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan now total $4-6 trillion (Blimes), including future disability and medical costs for veterans, and the Washington Post reports that the twin wars have killed a combined 6,648 American troops (“Faces of the Fallen”). The centerpiece of the Bush Doctrine resonates in the graves of Arlington National Cemetery, and our nation’s budget, but not in the foothills of Yemen or in the mountains of Pakistan, where the real threats reside.

First, a war can cost a country unexpected amount of money. For example, during the Second World War, the Canadian government took full control of the economy, and turned it into a war-winning weapon. Canadian industries manufactured war materials and other supplies for Canada, the United States, Britain, and other Allied countries. “The total value of Canadian war production was almost $10 billion; approximately $100 million in today’s dollars. Canadian industrial production during the Second World War included 11 billion dollars of munitions, 1.7 million small arms, 43,000 heavy guns, 16,000 aircraft, 2 million tonnes of explosives, 815,000 military vehicles and 50,000 tanks, armoured gun carriers and 9,000 boats and ships ambulance, light

Wars are expensive (in money and other resources), destructive (of capital and human capital), and disruptive (of trade, resource availability, labor management). Large wars make up severe shocks to the economies of participating countries. Despite some positive aspects of short-term stimulation and long-term destruction and rebuilding, war generally impedes economic