Why a Struggling Economy Makes Us Smarter About War

Impact
ByJendelly Veloz

Most people can agree that if previous wars had not happened, our economy would be in better shape. Let’s take a look at the Iraqi War, for example. Our government spent over $3.7 trillion on a war that still today is considered to be “a never-ending war.” We put too much money into a war we never should have gotten involved in, and this fact will have a huge impact on the future federal budgets of the United States.

Partially because more people are becoming aware of how economically unstable the United States is, there is a low U.S. support for action in Syria. Polls show that only 36% of Americans favor the U.S. taking military action to reduce Syria’s ability to use chemical weapons,51% oppose this action, and the remaining 13% percent are unsure. Americans realize how many lives we lost, how much more limited our rights became, and how much less trustworthy our government became during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are beginning to understand where the real expenses come in — providing medical care and disability benefits to veterans who are both physically and psychologically wounded. And where exactly would we get this money from? Spending borrowed money to pay for wars will only make them 20 times more expensive. Therefore, Americans have largely convinced themselves that the Syrian conflict is one it's best to sit out on.

They're right — an American attack on Bashar al-Assad’s forces wouldn’t be such a good idea. On Sunday, at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s former National Security Council Director Uzi Arad said, “I find it hard to believe that intervention will bring about a substantially better situation. The best thing now would be for Obama to carefully bring the crisis to an end, without creating negative ramifications in the region and the world, whether before or after an attack.”

According to NBC News, the United States has already begun providing the Free Syrian Army with money, equipment, training, and limited weaponry. The wisest thing to do is to stay out, and send food and medicine to alleviate the suffering of the innocent. Although most Americans oppose the intervention, Obama has already said he is prepared to act a bit. Hopefully, he keeps in mind our economic state and decides not to get the United States involved.