Democrats are "divided" on how to fund the new Afghanistan strategy, which will cost at least $30 billion more over the short term, not to mention billions to care for wounded veterans for decades.




Both Democrats and Republicans have rejected a proposal from liberal members to impose a 'war tax,'" but "they offered no plan of their own." And the average citizen has no skin in the game, as nobody is talking about the impact of this on tax rates and, most importantly, we no longer have a draft.




As Thomas Jefferson once wrote to his friend and protégé James Madison, we should minimize our permanent military and instead of a national defense force with a national draft like Switzerland does. Herbert Hoover correctly noted, "Old men declare war. But it's the youth who must fight and die."




When the children of our President, Vice President, and members of Congress are all obliged to serve, the odds are infinitely higher that our leaders won't speak so glibly about the acceptability of "a few casualties" in optional wars of choice in oil-and-gas-strategic regions like Afghanistan and Iraq.

--Thom

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"American World Service Corps at Novato Peace Conference"