Amid the chaos of a slumping economy and high-profile celebrity deaths, there are few who remember the unsung sacrifices of our nation’s service members.

While our media focuses on the death of music icons and government-run healthcare, thousands of brave men and women fight for an unknown cause against a nearly insurmountable enemy. Sadly this enemy is not terrorism, but our own government.

The idea of bringing freedom, democracy, and equality to these war-torn areas is admirable but ultimately flawed. The American definitions of freedom and equality greatly differ from those of Iraq and Afghanistan’s citizens. You cannot force equality on a people that views their religious counterparts as inferior, and women as lower social-caste members. Freedom cannot be possible in a culture where its application depends on race, gender, and religious belief. To forcibly implement democracy is even more problematic.

In both countries, we have already seen opposition to true democracy. Shiite and Sunni leaders refuse to accept Kurdish political officials. Religious leaders directly influence political officials, often dictating laws and punishments via faith-based edicts. Parliament leaders are routinely coerced by threats of violence and death. Tribal leaders in outer-lying regions rule without sanction and are seldom held accountable for their actions.

Despite all of these obstacles and the insurmountable odds against our troops, our government continues to throw more money and bodies into the fray. The ineffective central government of Afghanistan turned on itself after its last presidential vote, giving the Afghani people further reason to distrust the system. The Iraqi and Afghani police and military forces combined are ill-equipped to take over once our troops leave. The rising body count of our forces is a testament to the failure of our mission there. Peace and stability will never be reached by the methods we have used.

Sadly, our government refuses to see the truth and continues to assert that all is going as planned. When congress pulls our troops out of the area, which they fully intend to do, they will leave the Afghani and Iraqi people in a greater state of chaos than they were before those troops arrived.

Congress does not realize that the true victims of these blind attempts are American military service members and their families. Asked to give up their lives and families for an unachievable goal, troops then return to sub-standard VA healthcare and backlogged benefits. The duty to fight an “unwinnable war” coupled with the degradation of their government’s neglect is an unbearable insult to those who serve.

As a veteran, I call on the people of the United States to support our troops and redouble efforts to convince Congress to bring the troops home. The first step in correcting this monumental misuse of American lives is to remove them from a needless conflict. Once home, we must provide them with the assistance they will require to heal.-g