Larry Kotlikoff’s plan to stabilize Iraq

Here goes:

The Iraqi government should institute a draft of all Iraqi men between the
ages of 18 and 35.  This is the demographic most responsible for the violence. 
The removal of these 3 million men from the cities and countryside to army
barracks would likely bring an immediate end to Iraq’s horrific nightmare.  Any
men older than 35 suspected of involvement in terrorist or insurgent acts would
also be enlisted…The role of the enlarged Iraqi army would not involve bearing arms or
training in the use of arms. Rather the role would be to reconstruct the
country.

Were the United States to pay 3 million Iraqi soldiers $10,000 yearly, the
bill would be $30 billion.  This is a small amount relative to the savings it
would accrue from leaving the country.  It would also make service in the Iraqi
army highly desirable…

It is called a draft, but I think of it as an allowance to go play in the sand, a’la Coase.  Here is more.