US veterans reflect on the consequences of their involvement in Iraq.

Veterans still battle with the aftereffects and doubt the purpose of the US attack of Iraq twenty years later.

Naveed Shah traversed Iraq while serving in the US Army, making his way from Baghdad, the country’s capital, to Basrah, a city in the south situated on the shores of the Shatt Al Arab river.

He had been motivated to join, like many candidates, by the September 11, 2001, assaults that claimed nearly 3,000 lives in the US.

He had been shaken by that day. Shah recalls the day two hijacked airplanes hit the World Trade Center in New York City, and a third struck the Pentagon building in Washington, DC, not far from where he resided. Shah was only an adolescent at the time. According to reports, a fourth kidnapped aircraft that was en route to Washington, DC also fell in a Pennsylvanian field as a result of passengers’ resistance.

In a recent phone interview with Al Jazeera, Shah—who is currently employed by the soldiers’ rights organization Common Defense—said, “I believed that my nation was under assault. Furthermore, I felt as a Muslim that my faith had been twisted to excuse a heinous act.

After almost three years of the US assault of Iraq, Shah finally enlisted in the army in 2006. George W. Bush, who was president at the time, defended the campaign by referencing the September 11 attacks and saying that Iraq was harboring “terrorists” and creating WMDs, both of which have since been proven false.

Like many Americans at the time, Shah claimed that he had no regrets about the invasion.

I didn’t give our arrival in Iraq much thought, he admitted. At the time, it appeared that we were prevailing and leaving the nation in a respectable position.

Shah’s opinions have evolved, though, as the 20th milestone of the Iraq War near. Veterans like Shah are still dealing with unresolved medical issues from battle, as well as concerns about the invasion’s mission.

Shah declared, “The conflict was founded on a falsehood. “To begin with, it was wrong for us to be there.”

There are many different opinions about the battle among the hundreds of thousands of US military members who participated in it.

According to Kristofer Goldsmith, who served in Iraq from January to December 2005, “my year in Iraq was not pleasant.” “I can’t say that having served there has made any Americans—much less any Iraqis—better off.”

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2019, a sizeable majority of US veterans—roughly 64 percent—believe that the Iraq war was not worthwhile. This percentage is slightly higher than the 62 percent consensus among US citizens as a whole.

The war is increasingly being characterized in foreign policy circles as a misguided endeavor, worst case scenario, and a conflict founded on deceptive pretenses that brought death, devastation, and chaos to the area. Millions of Iraqi people were evacuated, and hundreds of thousands perished.

Shah, who served in the army as a communications expert during the conflict, has been motivated to reevaluate how the US conducts its foreign policy in the years following the attack.

People claimed that there was an attempt at the top levels of government to trick us into going to war, but that is what actually occurred, he said.

Shah wants to put a stop to the “perpetual state of military activity” that has been the hallmark of the US “war on terror.”

“The US defense spending is getting close to $1 trillion. Should we be intervening in disputes around the globe given the problems we face at home?” Did he ask. “I believe the answer is clear: no,”

Using experience to inform activism
In 2003, early in the Iraq conflict, soldier Oscar Olguin lost his right limb as a result of a blast. In a recent phone conversation with Al Jazeera, he revealed some uncertainty regarding the conflict and its effects.

I can’t answer whether the conflict was worthwhile, but I wouldn’t alter anything that occurred to me, he said. Is anything ever truly worthwhile? Nobody really prevails in a battle.

However, Olguin has discovered a method to use his expertise in campaign work, similar to some other Iraq War survivors.

Olguin said he has assisted veterans of all ages and backgrounds through his work at the nonprofit Disabled American Veterans (DAV), including a former Tuskegee airman, one of the Black fighter pilots who served during World War II. The work “feels gratifying”, Olguin said.

Through activism, Goldsmith, a soldier who fought in Iraq in 2005, has also discovered a revitalized sense of self. His enrollment had been hampered by mental health problems.

He referred to post-traumatic stress disorder by its abbreviation, “PTSD,” and said, “I remember my squad leader asked me if I had ever heard of it.” In those days, according to Goldsmith, “it wasn’t part of the lexicon.”

After making an effort at suicide, Goldsmith was eventually released from the hospital. “I lost a big part of my identity, a big part of my community when I left the military,” he claimed. Sharing his tale and his experiences with others helped him emerge from a gloomy place, but charity work done domestically also helped him regain a sense of well-being.

Since then, he has established an organization called Task Force Butler that concentrates on finding neo-Nazis by collecting information online.

According to Goldsmith, “my experiences left a mark on me that can’t be separated from who I am.” “I used to be preoccupied with thoughts of the conflict. Now, when I consider my identify as a veteran, I focus on using my abilities to improve my nation and defend domestic democracy.

ongoing effects on health
Shane Liermann, who works with the DAV on congressional issues, attributes the expansion of healthcare and educational opportunities for military people, both past and present, to pressure from Iraq war veterans on the US government.

Over exposure to fire pits, which were used in both wars to dispose of refuse on military sites, was one of the most well-known disputes. Advocates claim that heavy metals and poisonous vapors were released into the air when plastics, electronics, and even industrial chemicals were tossed into the trash flames.

But for years, it had been the veteran’s responsibility to demonstrate that their medical issues were caused by their closeness to the mines.

A measure extending healthcare benefits for soldiers who were subjected to poisons during their duty, including from the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, was only signed by US President Joe Biden in August 2022.

Since 2007, 13,000 survivor applications have been rejected, according to Liermann. “Under this bill, veterans are no longer required to establish causation.”

He claimed that changes to the GI Bill, a statute covering soldiers’ benefits, have also made education more accessible. Other legislation, such as the TEAM Veteran Caregivers Act and the Caregivers and soldiers Omnibus Health Services Act, have made it possible for disabled soldiers to receive aid in their residences.

Liermann pointed out that there are still service voids, and some soldiers have trouble getting the assistance they require.

“Accessing benefits can still be difficult for veterans in rural areas,” he said. “It can be difficult if you have to travel several hours to a VA [Veterans Affairs] clinic in a big city.”

Since 2001, more than 6,000 soldiers have perished by suicide, highlighting the ongoing problem of mental health.

However, there are encouraging indications for that tendency. Veterans Affairs reported that between 2018 and 2020, the suicide incidence among veterans decreased by 9.7%.

The soldier turned champion Goldsmith said, “There are more resources available now than there were before.” “Things have improved, but there is still work to be done.”