Last Friday marked the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, the implications of which one professor said many people take for granted.

University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin said a very small percentage of citizens have had to feel the full physical and emotional effects of serving in conflicts in the Middle East. He said most Americans go about their daily lives without considering the implications the wars have for soldiers and military families.

Early on in the war in Afghanistan, the United States achieved a fair amount of success with a fairly quick overthrow of the Taliban and the weakened presence of Al Qaeda, Franklin said.

However, as the U.S. turned its attention to the war in Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan became a secondary concern, prolonging the consolidation of power in the country and the war itself.

UW political science professor Donald Downs said the country’s voluntary military service allows many to take the sacrifices of soldiers and the wars themselves for granted.

Downs said the campus presence of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a daily reminder for many students of the real life implications the wars have for those who choose to fight in them.

“It’s one thing to know of something abstractly, but it’s another thing to see it in person,” Downs said. “Having an appropriate military presence on campus exposes our students to the broader world in ways that are beneficial.”

Downs is the co-author of “Arms and the University: Military Presence and the Civic Education of Non-Military Students,” a book about the effects student veterans have on their peers that will be released in January.

In a survey given to students at several universities and institutions in the country, Downs said 75 percent of students felt having veterans and military personal on campus gave them a broader sense of the war and its affect on those directly involved.

Franklin said the insurgent nature of the Taliban has made the possibility of a clear-cut conclusion to the war slim. He said a NATO agreement between the Hamid Karzai government and the western countries with military presence in Afghanistan, including the U.S., would seek to bring foreign troops out of the country in 2014.

He said it is unclear at this time whether the Taliban could take over the country once these forces leave.

In a statement, President Barack Obama asked citizens to use the anniversary as a reminder of the sacrifices made by soldiers and families along with those made by the citizens of Afghanistan who have fought alongside U.S. and NATO troops.

The death of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, as well as the capture or deaths of many other Al Qaeda leaders, has brought the United States and forces around the world closer to eliminating the threats posed by Al Qaeda, Obama said.

“Despite the enormous challenges that remain in Afghanistan, we’ve pushed the Taliban out of its key strongholds, Afghan security forces are growing stronger and the Afghan people have a new chance to forge their own future,” Obama said in the statement.