America as an International Police force and the hidden costs of WAR

English 101
10/29/13
America as an International Police Force and the Hidden Cost
For many years America has been known to the world as an International Police force and the hidden costs are beyond the cost of War. When most people think of the cost of going to war or sending our country into another country for humanitarian assistance, we often think of the money that is involved. As an American combat disabled veteran marine, I can say I have my hidden cost of war to deal with in result to the invasion of Iraq 2003. I’m not the only one that is an example of these hidden costs. Other service members in Iraq have lost their lives, their minds, and or even a limb or all of the above. That’s a hidden cost of medical expenses during and after war time service because of casualties of war.
Our reasons why we go to war and policing the world are for many interests including world peace, political gain, and or financial gain. Unfortunately the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost our country in excess of billions of dollars. There are other reasons maybe we shouldn’t go to war and it’s not justified or worth it.
So here we are, finally, messily winding down the long war in Afghanistan and simultaneously being goaded toward new military ventures against the regimes in Syria and Iran. Being in a question- asking business, I’ve been pondering this: What are the right questions the president should ask –and we as his employers should ask – when deciding whether going to war is (a) justified and (b) worth it? (Keller 1-4) .
Cost-benefit analysis may seem a cold-blooded discipline - - you can’t put a price on freedom, blah blah blah - -but it is inseparable from the question of our national interests. After more than 10 years of war that have bled our treasury of at least $3 trillion, killed or disabled many thousands of our troops, and created the kind of multiple- rotation stress that invites atrocities and desecrations, every incremental commitment has to be weighed against the cost to our economic security and our readiness to face the next real threat. (Keller 1-4) .
As you can clearly see just these two wars have hurt our country financially and for years to come with the after effects of war. The department of Veterans healthcare is going to incur treatment costs that are expensive in relation to handling our veterans with violence and or P.T.S.D often tied together. I myself have P.T.S.D and have used their services over the years. The psychotherapy has also helped and often military service members fail to seek help. With the withdraw of troops from Iraq the couple past years we have seen a number of service members needing help backlogged with our Veterans Affairs healthcare system. It may take months before someone can see a patient but it may be worth the wait as we are losing a great deal of number of veterans due to suicide. I always said it’s one thing to die in battle, but to die not in war shouldn’t have to happen by suicide. There’s so much to live for but this is a reality, a hidden cost of war.
Does America belong acting as a superpower in regards to being a police state in policing the world? Well some ways I agree for world peace it may be worth the cause. We all hope to live in a safe peaceful world. Other times I am not so certain we need to be involved for as long as we have fought some wars since there is the snowball effect of economics in the economy and the hidden costs of war that go with it.

Works Cited
Keller, Bill. "Falling In And Out of War." Falling In And Out of War Mar. 2012: 1-4.

Cited: Keller, Bill. "Falling In And Out of War." Falling In And Out of War Mar. 2012: 1-4.