00:00Apparently, Washington and Tel Aviv have discovered an extraordinary new solution to America's student debt crisis.
00:08Instead of making higher education more affordable, why not offer young Americans a chance to erase their debts by joining
00:15a war with Iran?
00:16That is the logic behind a proposal discussed in an opinion article published by the Jerusalem Post.
00:23The author, A.J. Jaff, a retired Canadian Armed Forces officer, suggested that the United States should forgive student loans,
00:33credit card balances, and other debts for Americans to complete 24 to 36 months of military service in a war
00:41against Iran.
00:42It is difficult to imagine a more perfect symbol of the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
00:47It is, admittedly, a remarkable economic strategy.
00:51America cannot solve the student debt problem, but perhaps it can make military service look more attractive by attaching a
00:59debt forgiveness package to it.
01:01The United States and Israel are formerly two separate regimes, with separate governments and separate interests.
01:09Yet when it comes to Iran, their strategic calculations have become so closely connected that separating one from the other
01:16is becoming increasingly difficult.
01:18Israel considers Iran a fundamental strategic threat, while Washington provides Israel with extensive military, financial, and diplomatic support.
01:29When confrontation turns into war, however, the consequences do not remain neatly inside the borders of the occupied Palestine.
01:37American weapons, American military personnel, American taxpayers' money, and ultimately, American taxpayers themselves become part of the equation.
01:48Now, apparently, they may also be expected to open their sons' and daughters' military recruitment letters.
01:55And Iran is hardly an opponent that can simply be bombed into submission, waiting politely for the next American air
02:02strike.
02:03It is a large nation with substantial missile and drone capabilities, a powerful security establishment, and considerable influence across the
02:13West Asia.
02:14A war with Iran could threaten shipping through the Persian Gulf, disrupt energy markets, and spread far behind the original
02:22battlefield.
02:22Yet somehow, amid all these risks, the conversation can still arrive at the remarkably cheerful idea of telling an indebted
02:31American graduate that there is a simple way to become death-free, enlist and go to war.
02:38The real issue is not whether the United States has the military power to enter another West Asian conflict.
02:44It is whether American citizens should be asked to provide the money, weapons, and potentially the blood for a confrontation
02:52that is so deeply connected to Israel's regional security calculations.
02:57Bombs cost money.
02:58Wars cost money.
03:01And dead soldiers cost families everything.
03:04So perhaps the slogan for the new policy should be,
03:07You're a student dead can disappear, provided you're willing to risk disappearing first.
03:13A remarkable bargaining date.
03:15Bars begin with speeches in Washington and Tel Aviv, but the final invoice is always delivered to the ordinary people.
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