Wars are strategic plans that governments develop to gain valuable resources. According to the US State Department, powerful nations disguised their intentions and led society to believe there was a war on terrorism. Over the past decade, the United States has invaded the soil of Iraq and Afghanistan and thousands of soldiers have died as a result (Maceda 2). The United States government announced to the public that weapons of mass destruction were present in Iraq and that it was a political obligation to intervene. These weapons of mass destruction posed a threat to the United States and its allies, war was declared, and invasion was inevitable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Although there was no evidence of such allegations, the United States and its allies began war, and U.S. troops were quickly deployed to a foreign battlefield. After a long decade of incessant fighting, the war continues and troops remain in the region. Derek Coy, a former US Marine sergeant, said veterans, including himself, struggle both mentally and physically (qtd in Maceda 1). The problems facing returning veterans are the lack of a competent healthcare system, poverty, and the lack of family support to prevent homelessness. Homelessness continues to impact and create a problem for returning veterans (Dalgish). Homelessness predominates in hundreds of cities across the United States. It is common to see people sleeping on bus benches and near subway stations. The US government has created several shelters to combat this problem; however, veterans are still at risk of becoming homeless and losing their families. Stephen Metraux concluded that: “A government agency such as Veterans Affairs implemented effective use of homelessness prevention services, which included $100 million under the Supportive Services for Veterans and Families program in fiscal year 2012, and helped address Veterans Affairs generally." commitment to end veteran homelessness by 2015” (7). The veterans health system has been accused of mismanagement, falsified documentation, and preventable patient deaths (Landen 1). According to Rachel Landen, veterans have long had difficulty making appointments for their healthcare needs and healthcare administrations have had trouble keeping records of wait times (1). “Under a 1996 law, disabled veterans needing care must be seen by a provider within 30 days, but they found that two-thirds of the clinics they examined had wait times longer than thirty days” (Landen 2). Additionally, allegations of mismanagement at the gastroenterology clinic in South Carolina have been made; an inspector had to examine the causes of the delay in treatment (Landen 2). They came to find that there was a backlog of 2,500 delayed consultations and 700 were considered critical (Landen 2). Many of these patients were diagnosed with gastrointestinal malignancies, and fifty-two of these patients had delays in diagnosis or treatment; six of these patients had died (Landen 2). Homelessness has been a problem in every war and protective measures have not prevented it because the population of homeless veterans has increased significantly in recent years. Likewise, Vietnam veterans are still among the homeless. Homelessness does not discriminate against race or gender; it's a problemthat combat soldiers experience. The main reason veterans become homeless is because they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (Metraux et al. S255). PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event (Rieckhoff). Rieckhoff goes on to say, “One-third of Iraq veterans will face post-traumatic stress disorder or another mental health issue; If left untreated, the mental health effects of combat can lead to unemployment, drug abuse, homelessness and even suicide” (Rieckhoff). According to Ira Katz, “Analyses of mortality data presented in the data column show that among veterans diagnosed with serious mental illness, homelessness was a stronger contributory problem than that diagnosis to years of potential life lost” (605). Veterans suffer from this disease once they return home, making it difficult for them to adapt to a civilian lifestyle. In an article on homelessness among veterans, the “emotional trauma” experienced by war veterans in war zones is “both a cause and a consequence of homelessness” among veterans. They suggested that many veterans suffer from “culture shock” and therefore experience difficulty transitioning from military to civilian life (Veterans Today). They are a barrier because they are filled with terrible memories of fallen comrades and killing enemies. From the day a soldier is sent overseas, bloodshed and cruelty flood his life. Although combat soldiers are physically trained to endure life on the battlefield, this has a negative effect on their mental state. Veterans are not mentally stable and are not ready to adapt to civilian life without psychological assistance. This makes the transition more difficult because they are unwilling to readjust their perception of their changing lifestyles. For example, in the novel The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, one of the returning veterans was unable to adapt to his previous lifestyle once again. The lifestyle he lived outside of the war became dull and boring; there was no excitement in the undisturbed community in which he lived. Ultimately, he chose to end his life because the lifestyle he once knew had ended months before he returned. These soldiers lack the cognitive support and critical employment to be financially stable; many walk the streets abusing drugs and alcohol (qtd. in SparkNotes). According to alarming statistics, veterans who become homeless are prone to commit suicide because they feel helpless. Among veterans who died by suicide, five hundred and sixty-one (3.6%) had a history of homelessness (Bossarte 714). Robert Bossarte states, “Suicide among homeless veterans had a single peak during middle age” (714). Veterans are predisposed to experiencing homelessness compared to the general population. According to Wilbur Scott, “With the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, psychiatrists now say it is “normal” for the horrors of war to traumatize people; war neurosis, or PTSD, occurs when this trauma goes unrecognized and untreated” (28). These war veterans are at risk primarily because they were deployed on missions at a young age and this exposure has had serious psychological effects. Metraux concluded that, “Service in Iraq or Afghanistan and, more specifically, PTSD among deployed veterans presented modestly significant risk factors for homelessness, and socioeconomic and behavioral health factors provided indicators of risk stronger” (S255). A cohort study was conducted to examine factors on the likelihood of becoming homeless among.