The 9/11 Wars America Can't Afford to Forget

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-11

It's been over two decades since the towers fell, yet the wars that followed still shape our lives in ways most of us rarely stop to think about. Mike Bedenbaugh wants Americans to remember something uncomfortable: the conflicts after 9/11 didn't just end when the headlines moved on. ### The Wars That Outlived the Headlines When the planes hit on that September morning, the country came together in grief and fury. Then came Afghanistan. Then Iraq. What started as a hunt for those responsible turned into the longest war in American history. Thousands of U.S. service members never came home. Tens of thousands more returned with wounds you can't see — PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and years of lost time. And the price tag? Estimates put the total cost of the post-9/11 wars somewhere north of $8 trillion, according to Brown University's Costs of War project. That's not a typo. Eight trillion dollars. ### What Military Intervention Actually Costs Bedenbaugh's point isn't to relitigate old decisions. It's simpler than that. He's asking us to remember what intervention really costs — and not just in dollars. - **Human lives:** Over 7,000 U.S. troops died in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. - **Displacement:** Millions of civilians fled their homes, creating refugee crises that still ripple across Europe and the Middle East. - **Veterans:** Hundreds of thousands live with injuries and trauma that will follow them for life. - **Trust:** Public faith in government and military decisions dropped sharply and never fully recovered. As Bedenbaugh puts it, "We owe it to those who served to remember not just their sacrifice, but what we asked them to sacrifice for." ### Why This Still Matters Today You might be thinking, that's history. Why bring it up now? Because the same debates are happening again. Every time a new conflict flares up, the question returns: when should America get involved? And the answer is never as simple as it sounds. Remembering the aftermath of 9/11 isn't about guilt. It's about wisdom. It's about looking at the last twenty years honestly and asking whether the results matched the promises. ### The Takeaway Forgetting isn't an option. Not for the families who lost someone. Not for the veterans still fighting their own battles at home. Not for a country that's still figuring out its place in the world. The post-9/11 wars taught us something hard: intervention has consequences that last far longer than the conflicts themselves. Bedenbaugh's message is simple. Remember. Pay attention. And don't let the lessons fade.