The fact that 2010 is the first year in a whole new decade* struck me a little funny a couple of days ago. I did a little reflecting on how the world has changed since the year 2000 and I kept getting tripped up on one thing. When the new millenium rolled in, the US was not at war. The military was stationed in many different countries around the world at that time, and there were 'peacekeeping' missions taking place, but the US was not an occupying force in Iraq or Afghanistan.
I was in middle school when the September 11th attacks took place but as I write this I am twenty-two years old and now it's a little easier to look at the war in the proper perspective . In hindsight, the fact that the US government has been on a war footing for the better part of a decade has had an impact on my life. While I came very close, I never joined the military because of my views on the war. So, I never did participate directly in the war but had it not been taking place there is a very good chance that my life's path would have been very different.
I've met a lot of people who have served with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, some who I knew prior to their military service and some who served in Iraq or Afghanistan prior to them meeting me. Every individual veteran I have met has their own personal opinions about the mission. Some have told me it was a waste or now object to what they had to do in foreign theaters. Others still think that the war was necessary and they would go again. Then, there are some who are relatively indifferent to the greater question about the purpose of the war and look at it in terms of whether it was a positive or negative experience for them personally.
As someone who strongly opposes the war in Iraq, and the occupation that followed the initial intervention in Afghanistan, I wish that I knew a lot fewer people who have been to war even though some of those people support that war. Now that many of my peers are starting to settle down and have children, I hope that by the time those kids are my age the US will be at peace again. I'd like to think that this will happen because the American people as a whole will reject militarism, but sadly I think it's more likely that the peace will finally come because these current military adventures will bankrupt the federal government. Either way, I'm hoping that this war will end before another decade or two passes.
