The author of this lively but conflicted study, an ex–think tanker and Marine vet, is torn between libertarian impulses and a lingering social conservatism. "Conscription sucks so bad," he moans, yet he believes that "every American male should spend some time in uniform." (Women, too, he allows, despite grousing about "man-hating" feminists.) Gold (Take Back the Right
) suggests that the army needs several hundred thousand more troops for its many missions, from hurricane relief to fighting wars and nation building. But he also considers conscription an intolerable, perhaps unconstitutional infringement of liberty, historically fraught with corruption, unfairness and malign social engineering. Gold squares this circle, not very persuasively, with a nod to the wisdom of the founding fathers and the nation's hoary citizen-militia tradition. People should have a choice of different commitments, he argues, from overseas deployment in the regular military to strictly domestic service in state militias—or no service at all, which would subject them to extra taxes. It's hard to see how this system would sustain a tough foreign conflict—but maybe that's the point, since Gold considers the Iraq War a disaster. He presents an engaging, down-to-earth take on the urgent problem of military manpower, without quite resolving it. (Sept. 19)
