OPINION: We owe veterans much more than thanks and praise on Veterans Day
Wars are costly in the extreme. The Vietnam war cost $168 billion, or $1 trillion in today’s dollars. Post-war benefits for veterans and their families have cost about $22 billion per year since 1970. The Iraq War will cost almost $3 trillion dollars —about $2 trillion in direct costs and another trillion for long-term care for veterans. The war in Afghanistan cost about $2 trillion, not counting care for its veterans.
Even more than the money, those wars caused the deaths of thousands of our finest men and women in arms. 58,220 Americans, including 251 Idahoans, died in the Vietnam War. 153,303 troops were wounded. Many are still dying from causes such as suicide, substance abuse and exposure to toxins. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan left 7,085 military fatalities and 53,533 wounded service members.
It would be one thing if these tremendous costs of war were necessitated to advance important national interests. Sadly, that is not the case. Each of the three wars was the result of poor judgement, political calculation, or plain ignorance.
President Lyndon Johnson’s administration fabricated a North Vietnamese attack on two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin as a pretext for a tremendous escalation of hostilities in South Vietnam. Only two Senators voted against a resolution laying the groundwork for that major commitment of American forces.
While I was serving in the Army in Vietnam, I cast my 1968 presidential ballot for Richard Nixon because he claimed to have a plan to end the war. We learned many years later that just before the elections Nixon had secretly sabotaged peace negotiations that could have brought the war to a halt.
After the 9-11 attack, when the Bush-Cheney White House was beating the drums to go to war in Iraq, many of us Vietnam vets knew it would be a tremendous blunder. There was absolutely no evidence that Saddam Hussien had any responsibility for the attack. All but one member of Congress voted for the Global War on Terrorism Resolution that gave the president practically unfettered authority to attack anyone he branded as a terrorist.
There was justification to send a small group of American forces to Afghanistan to punish Al-Qaeda for the 9-11 attack, but no justification for spending the next 20 years propping up corrupt governments. Our leaders failed to stop our participation.
Presidential impunity continues apace. Donald Trump launched an unprovoked attack on Iran that constituted an act of war. He has authorized and celebrated the killing of dozens of so-called narco-terrorists and seems poised to undertake hostilities against Venezuela, without compliance with the War Powers Resolution, which requires notification and approval by Congress. Most recently, on Nov. 1, Trump threatened potential military action in Nigeria.
This parade of political manipulation and misuse of American military power has done tremendous harm to our country. While every American should step forward on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and every other day of the year, to express appreciation for those who have fought, died and still carry the wounds of war, we all must do much more. By forcing our elected representatives to perform their constitutional obligation to keep the country out of unjustified hostilities, we can keep our young men and women in the military from being casualties. Had Congress carried out its duty to act as a check against presidential abuse of our military, the country could have avoided much of the blood and treasure wasted in the country’s unfounded wars since 1964.
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Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as a Justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017).