On August 26th, 2021, 13 U.S. Service members and approximately 170 Afghani civilians were killed in a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. During that time, I had just completed my first year in the United States Navy and like many others - I was horrified at the sights I saw on my phone. The overwhelming response on social and various mainstream media outlets made the Afghanistan pullout and the consequences that resulted from it solely the responsibility of the Biden administration. The reality, however, is that this was a symptom of a disease that’s gripped American society for the better part of 65 years: our lawmakers at the highest level of government love war and its profits more than our country’s servicemembers.
The Global War on Terror lasted nearly 20 years,killed more than 7,000 U.S. service members, and wounded more than 53,000. Between 1.9 and 3 million Americans deployed to the Middle East, and according to an analysis done by the RAND Corporation in 2018, over 5.4 million deployments had occurred since 9/11. A 2012 study of nearly 600 soldiers in a Stryker Brigade Combat Team found that 45% were injured during a single 12-month deployment to Afghanistan. That’s one Army brigade on one deployment, and it doesn’t count the sailors who spend months working an aircraft carrier’s flight deck through extended air operations. The fact of the matter here is that service to our country often extracts a lifelong medical price from those who answer its call. Those numbers also only include people who deploy. Serving in the military is inherently dangerous, and the job you choose doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll never see action. Navy Cross recipient Doris Miller, a mess attendant second class, was collecting laundry aboard the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He didn’t stand idly by and proclaim “I’m a cook! I didn’t sign up for combat!” He ran straight into the action, helped carry his mortally wounded captain to cover, manned a .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine gun until it ran out of ammunition, and carried injured sailors to safety. Our troops do not know the word quit, so I’d like to ask my current Senator, Jim Risch, why he is so intimately familiar with it? Why is it fair for him to quit on those who never would have quit on him?
When I left the Navy after my contract ended in 2025, I was incredibly blessed to have the ability to participate in a program the VA offers called Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD). The life-long injuries I received from my service are taken care of and the Boise VA does their best to address all my issues. I received insoles for my bilateral pes planus, a colonoscopy to address my horrid stomach issues, and world class physical therapy that helped me return to the things I can enjoy like hiking! But when I walk the halls of the Boise VA, I see Korean War and Vietnam vets who are less fortunate. I see vets who had to suffer for decades before they could get benefits under the PACT act. Many of them have cancer, and many of the Vietnam vets have nerve issues or type 2 diabetes related to Agent Orange exposure. What is three-term Senator and lifelong politician Jim Risch’s record - not his words, but the history of his actions - on servicemembers and veterans? On one hand, he supports sending our troops into conflicts that will likely lead to lifetime disabilities because there’s no way a 250+ day naval deployment with extended air operations does not lead to some serious musculoskeletal issues. On the other hand he voted against the PACT act which gave Vietnam veterans like my grandpa-in-law benefits after suffering for decades from toxic chemical exposure. All of which begs the question: who does Jim Risch care about less - active-duty servicemembers, or veterans after they come home?
Jim also supported the Build America Buy America Act which has led to stalled renovations and modernization of our Veterans Homes. Later, Jim blamed Biden for the consequences of that bill, saying that the Biden VA was to blame for shortchanging Idaho veteran homes. What’s wrong Jim? Did you not read the bill before you voted on it? If you were to ask me, it seems like Jim’s rubber-stamping has gone back far before the current administration. The VA does fantastic work, but it needs more resources to address the issues that still need addressing. Have you ever noticed that our leaders love to point out how Korea is the “forgotten war” and then validate that by forgetting or refusing to expand care for Korean war vets?
Senator Risch chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, yet he still hasn’t held a public hearing on the Iran war, and he’d rather keep the discussion in closed-door classified sessions. It’s the same way he treats Idahoans at home, where he doesn’t hold open, in-person town halls either. Let’s also stop tiptoeing around the subject: this is not just another conflict. This is what war looks like. Random “conflicts” don’t cause severe economic strife, disrupt global shipping lanes, and lead to the depletion of critical munitions in our arsenal. War causes exorbitant fuel prices. War leads to families having to choose whether or not the price of beef is worth sacrificing creature comforts for. If it walks like a war and quacks like a war, it’s probably, you guessed it, a war!
By refusing to hold hearings to hold President Trump accountable, Jim Risch has placed our country in an incredibly precarious situation! Ask yourself, are we any safer now that we have exhausted our supply of advanced munitions? At this point, we’ve expended nearly two-thirds of our Patriot missiles and more than 170 of our Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, which cost about $15.5 million apiece. That’s roughly $2.7 billion in THAAD interceptors alone. So, what’s left for our warfighters if China decides to invade Taiwan tomorrow? If Russia attacks a NATO member? Risch needs to start asking the hard questions instead of rubber-stamping every single foreign policy decision coming out of the White House. By allowing our fellow war-loving politicians to run unchecked, Jim Risch has placed our troops at a greater risk of death and injury because they don’t have the tools they need to succeed. This almost becomes comical when you learn that Jim Risch dodged the draft during Vietnam with five student deferments and an “ongoing ulcer,” voted against the PACT Act that expanded care for veterans exposed to Agent Orange and burn pits, and voted last year against an amendment to protect its funding.
But who knows, maybe I’m over reacting. After all, only 19 U.S. service members have died in this war so far, along with thousands of civilians, including more than 100 children at a single elementary school in Minab, many of them around my son’s age. “Small potatoes,” am I right?
Paid for by Todd Achilles for Idaho / J. Patrick Riceci, Treasurer. Copyright (C) 2026 Achilles for Idaho. All rights reserved.
Thank you, Justin for this comment.
I wrote Risch many letters prior to him voting to confirm Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and others and was flabbergasted when he responded that President Trump won a mandate in the 2024 election, therefore he had to vote to confirm his candidates. I found it incredulous that a two-term US senator, would have the audacity to respond to a constituent like that.
And I’m in total agreement with you about Risch’s avoidance of a debate with an opponent. That should tell every Idahoan that it’s time for him to step down.
Thank you for this piece of writing. Reminds me of Dylan’s “Masters of War” song…”come you masters of war, you build the death planes, you who build all the bombs, you who hide behind walls, you who hide behind desks….you who turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly…”