Guest Contributor

January 16, 2012 | Politics

As Iraq War Ends, U.S./Mexico Border Escalates

by Caroline Zamora

The Iraq War lasted almost nine years, with nearly 4, 500 American lives lost, nearly 32, 000 wounded, and an estimated $800 billion dollars spent. On December 17, 2011, the last American troops pulled out of Iraq.

In rural southern New Mexico, there will be a significant impact on the community because of the end of the Iraq War and troop draw down in Afghanistan. Las Cruces, New Mexico, for example, is surrounded by several Military bases.

Fort Bliss is located about 40 miles outside of Las Cruces near El Paso, Texas. With the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Fort Bliss is expecting an expansion of 21,000 troops and 30,000 military families. There is also an estimated $3.7 million increase in the economic impact to the borderland and several thousand jobs will be created.

Twenty minutes east of Las Cruces, NM is White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). WSMR, a testing facility, will also be expanding. At WSMR there are new experimentation operations being conducted for the Army’s modernization program known as Future Combat Systems. Along with continuing its mission of high technology testing for the military, WSMR will continue to stimulate the economy in the border region.

WSMR generates $1.8 million dollars a day in revenue for the local economy. Private contractors employed by the government, such as “NewTech, a company that provides technical support to the range, alone employs about 520 people,” said Charles Garcia. With its expansion, military and civilian employment will increase.

Also east of Las Cruces is Holloman Air Force base, which will also be experiencing expansion and mission changes. Holloman AFB employs nearly 12,000 civilian and military personnel. The economic impact of Holloman AFB in 2010 was $693 million.

Holloman AFB is also home to the pilots who fly “drones” or unmanned aerial vehicles. Personnel will continue to test drones and train pilots to fly them. With the use of drones by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US military in the Middle East it is certain that Holloman AFB will continue to expand operations and impact borderland economies.

With the withdrawal from Iraq, and return of military personnel, and the expansion of military bases in the borderland there is one question that has still not been answered. After thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars spent, was the Iraq War worth it?

Mateo Lowther of Las Cruces, NM believes the war was not worth the costs. Although we have withdrawn from Iraq, Lowther believes “they [government and media] tell us one thing, but nothing has really changed.” American soldiers are still in the Middle East (Afghanistan). To the credit of the Obama administration, Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group Al Qaeda, and other high ranking members may have been killed or captured, but Al Qaeda still exists and carries out terrorist acts. According to CIA director David Petraeus Al Qaeda is much weaker than before and still a threat to America.

Brandon Powell was shot by a sniper in 2004 while on patrol in Mosul, Iraq. He is now paralyzed from the neck down. Powell is glad that no more men and women will be injured or loss their lives in Iraq and believes that the U.S. had “no business” being in Iraq. After a long and drawn out war Kristen Carpenter of Dallas, Texas compares Iraq to a “modern day Vietnam.”

Although our soldiers are coming home, borderland military bases are expanding and borderland economies are going to improve, we cannot forget how many lives have been affected. Aaron Boyer of Las Cruces, New Mexico believes “we may never know the true extent of the war or reasoning behind it,” but what we do know is thousands of lives have been forever changed.

– DailyGrito