#financial-consequences

#financial-consequences

When the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously predicted the conflict would last "six days, six weeks-I doubt six months." It lasted eight years, injured nearly 40,000 Americans, killed 4,500, and drained what Brown University's Costs of War project calculates as nearly $2 trillion in direct spending-with veterans' medical and disability payments projected to add $1 trillion more over 40 years.

Nearly one in three federal student loan borrowers face the risk of default as delinquency rates reach alarming new heights, highlighting the urgent need for effective repayment strategies.