Wars take huge toll on 9th District
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Collegiate Times
Chris Dunn
10/14/2010
Free tuition at Virginia Tech? Free health care for low-income families? Drastically reduced taxes for all? Safer vacations abroad? These are but a few ways in which citizens of the 9th District could benefit from the absence of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For the 2011 fiscal year, the two wars will cost the 9th District $254 million dollars. If citizens of the 9th District chose to spend that money here in the New River Valley, instead of footing the bill for Washington's wars, we could fund a number of projects. It would pay the yearly tuition and fees for every undergraduate student (26,500 students) at Tech.
It would cover the cost of health care for almost 10 percent of the district's residents. It would pay the salary of more than 4,000 firefighters or policemen. Or better yet, citizens could choose not to fund additional projects and instead to keep the fruits of their hard-earned labor.
To date, military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan has cost you $3,500. According to the National Priorities Project, which compiles data from the census and federal spending bills, this is the cost of war for every boy, girl, man and woman.
If the cost of war is burdened solely by U.S. taxpayers, the cost jumps to $7,500 per worker. Sadly, these figures are only for the upfront cost of war. If you factor in hidden costs of war, such as life insurance payments for soldiers killed in combat, medical treatment for soldiers injured in combat and money to refurbish military equipment, the Washington Post estimates the final cost of war will be more than three times the upfront cost.
This means every U.S. taxpayer will be on the hook for at least $22,000. These numbers may seem abstract and insignificant to the average college student. However, upon graduation and entrance into the workforce, these numbers will make more sense. When the government is garnishing a quarter to a third of your check in federal income taxes alone, these numbers will become quite significant. The wars have also taken a human toll on the 9th District. Besides the Tech Corps of Cadets alumni who have been killed in action, the following residents of the district have lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan: Brandon Asbury, Jesse Ault, Chad Barrett, Jonathan Bowling, Jason Deibler, Michael Dooley, Kenneth Gibson, Jeffrey Kaylor, David Lambert, Ryan McGlothlin and Gregory Pennington.
To many of us, these are simply names printed on paper. But for some in the New River Valley, these are the names of loved ones. For most of us, these names evoke no emotional response, but for dozens of our neighbors, each name represents the loss of a son, brother, cousin, nephew, grandson or father.
As the wars drag on, America's standing in the world will continue to decline. This will affect 9th District residents, particularly Tech students, in unforeseen ways.
In 2007, Steven Kull of the Program on International Policy Attitudes testified before Congress about America's image in the world. PIPA conducted a large-scale poll inside dozens of countries and found citizens around the globe view American influence as negative. So much so, in fact, that the numbers are "the lowest that have ever been recorded."
Contributing greatly to America's negative image were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the current war-mongering with Iran.
Many vacationing Americans have already lied and pretended to be from Canada. Americans can increasingly expect to face hostilities when traveling abroad. As the economic climate in the U.S. continues to deteriorate, many graduates will look abroad for better job opportunities.
These job seekers will find it more difficult to gain employment. Biased employers who hold a grudge against the U.S. and its foreign policy will hire Europeans or Asians instead.
As the PIPA study showed, resentment toward America is widespread and not localized to Middle Eastern countries.
Costs in dollars and lives will accumulate as Congress and President Barack Obama expand war in the Middle East. The 9th District cannot afford to support Washington's interventionist foreign policy.
With our 7.8 percent unemployment rate, that money could be better spent here in the district. War is destroying the wealth that is desperately needed here at home. A dozen families have already lost loved ones to these wars. We cannot afford to lose any more neighbors.
What once was a respected "city on a hill" is quickly becoming one of the most hated countries in the world. This increasingly negative view of America puts all of us who travel overseas at risk.
