Old wars, new déjà vu

There’s a hard-to-ignore theme among veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan: the current confrontation with Iran feels like a rerun nobody asked to watch. "There is a sense from the government that they are kind of using us as pawns," said Brandon Waithe, a former Air Force master sergeant. "They want to send us to war, but they don’t want to pay for the results of it."

That line sums up a lot of what veterans are telling each other. After two decades of post-9/11 campaigns, many in uniform are tired of tactical fireworks without lasting strategy, and they worry the country has not learned the big lessons.

A quick, grim refresher

Starting in 2001 the U.S. launched long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan meant to crush terrorist threats after September 11. Those wars stretched for years. More than 7,000 U.S. service members died, and some were killed by weapons and insurgent groups backed by Iran. U.S. troops left Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban regained control soon after, leaving behind what many veterans call a decade of chaos and rising violence.

Veterans' verdict: caution, not chest-pumping

Many post-9/11 veterans say their combat experience left them skeptical of quick military fixes. Jason Dempsey, a former infantry officer who served in both theaters, says this generation is more cautious about force than veterans from the Vietnam era. "There is a much greater sense of melancholy and disappointment at this latest iteration of what we are doing," he said.

For others the reaction was raw and immediate. Maggie Seymour, who served in the Marines in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, remembered watching U.S. jets strike Iran and thinking, "Are you fucking kidding me?" Keegan Evans, a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, put it more plainly: "People are killed. Sons, daughters, brothers, fathers, the whole list, they don’t come home. And the very legitimate question: What is it for?"

Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, said veterans expect a certain caution from leaders. From their point of view, regime change by bombing rarely produces stable outcomes. Diplomacy and long-term plans matter more than short-term military wins.

We need strategy, not fireworks

Veterans complain that operations often lack coherent follow-through. "This makes the Iraq War planning look like grand strategy," said Chris Purdy, an army combat engineer who deployed in 2011. Seymour added that too many actions lately have felt like acting without thinking, and Evans compared the rush into conflict to a chaotic kids' soccer game.

The veteran community does not speak with one voice. Some members of the current administration also served in Iraq or Afghanistan, including high-ranking officials who back tougher measures. But for many who wore the uniform after 2001, watching history repeat itself is painful and depressing. Dempsey said seeing leadership double down on the worst parts of those wars is "immensely depressing." Jackie Schneider, an Air Force veteran, said many in her generation are left asking whether the sacrifices ever achieved what was promised.

Casualties and creeping escalation

So far the violence tied to the current Iran conflict has had a significant human cost. Reports indicate more than 1,000 people have been killed in Iran, and seven American soldiers have died. Veterans fear those numbers will climb if the conflict continues to escalate.

"Risking your life, getting grievously injured or killed; a friend or family member gets grievously injured or killed; for a reason that the president cannot even articulate?" Dempsey asked. "People will ask, Is my life to be used for one man’s whim?"

Worries at home

Anxiety is not limited to retirees and pundits. Cynthia Kao, a former Air Force reservist who served in Afghanistan, says she has been fielding dozens of calls from fellow reservists and veterans. Some fear they will be treated as "cannon fodder." A refrain Kao hears a lot is, "I am not afraid to die for my country. What I am afraid to do, is die for somebody who has their own agenda."

That sentiment captures what many veterans say they want from leaders: clarity of purpose, realistic objectives, and a plan that lasts longer than a headline. They want to be deployed for reasons that make strategic sense, not for impulse or spectacle.

Parting thought

There is a plain lesson in the veterans’ unease. Military force has a cost that lasts far beyond any single strike. Veterans who lived through Iraq and Afghanistan are urging caution, wiser diplomacy, and real strategy. They remember what happens when the country rushes in without thinking, and they do not want to see those mistakes repeated.