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After Desert Storm, Dick Cheney himself defended the decision not to press on to Baghdad--he predicted it would enmesh us in years of sectarian fighting. Before the Iraq invasion Barack Obama also predicted disaster. Yet we rushed to war.
Then and now the man in the street remained too removed to be properly concerned. The billions borrowed from our children to finance war seem very abstract. Of course, the troops and their families bear huge burdens, and our children and grandchildren will service the debt and pay the bills long after we are dead and gone. But despite the casualties, and the horrendous expenses, the war does not affect most people directly or immediately. No personal sacrifices put the liability for war squarely in front of most of us.
To place the responsibility squarely where it belongs, why not make combat "pay-as-you-go"- with a combat surcharge? We could assess every taxpayer an additional tax, a simple percentage surcharge, to fund combat operations. We should make it automatic so that sending troops into combat triggers the tax add-on without any executive or legislative action.
That would give everyone an immediate personal stake in the decision to fight. The added tax expense might delay getting that plasma TV, or force cancellation of vacation plans. The old car might have to do for another year. But we would all put Country first in a very immediate and tangible way--by opening our wallets.
At the same time, we should mandate some form of national service in times of combat. Give patriotic young people a spectrum of choices--let's say 5 years in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps, or three years in the military. Draft those who don't volunteer--no deferments, no exceptions--everybody serves the nation in time of combat. Create special programs for college students and others who would normally qualify for draft deferment--but ensure that absolutely everybody under age 35 serves in some way, even those with disabilities.
If we all had an immediate stake in the decision to go to combat, if every adult had something at risk, some significant disruption to life, then all of us would demand that our nation's vital interests were absolutely served by the decision to send our bravest and best to combat. There would be huge political disincentives for being hawkish unless circumstances demanded putting Country First.
