A column published in an Israeli newspaper has suggested that the US should forgive the loans of young Americans if they agree to join an invasion of Iran, with the author arguing that a US war against Iran cannot be won through aerial bombardment alone, but would require occupying or controlling the country, necessitating the mobilisation of up to 1.5 million troops.
The shocking proposal to use young indebted Americans as cannon fodder against Iran was suggested by AJ Jaff, a retired officer of the Canadian Armed Forces in an opinion piece published by Jerusalem Post.
In his arguments, Jaff says that months of intensive US attacks had not collapsed Iran’s military capacity or ended the war, and that a ground invasion would require far more American troops than current strength.
"Recruitment numbers are running below what a ground invasion of Iran would require. Estimates for a successful ground campaign against Iran's 31 provincial commands and its Mosaic Defense Doctrine run between 750,000 and 1.5 million American troops. The current active US Army stands at roughly 452 thousand. The math does not work, obviously," writes the author.
Jaff argues US history suggests a viable path forward: recruitment via a debt-forgiveness programme rather than traditional wartime conscription.
"The average American aged 18 to 34 carries more than $40,000 in non-mortgage debt across student loans, credit card balances, auto loans, and personal loans, with some estimates go as high as $100,000," he writes, adding, this is the cohort the Pentagon needs.
"A federally administered debt-forgiveness enlistment programme that fully discharges student loan, credit card, and loan balances after 24 or 36 months of service, and extends the GI Bill, would produce voluntary enlistment at scale," the columnist argues.
Outlandish suggestion
About 77 per cent of Americans have some form of debt. This translates to roughly 250 million to 260 million individuals facing various types of financial liabilities, contributing to a historic total US household debt of $18.8 trillion. US adults held an average debt of $63,500.
Jaff cites US precedents to such recruitment schemes, noting that the Second World War introduced the GI Bill, whilst the Vietnam War offered college deferments.
"The post 9/11 wars offered signing bonuses and citizenship pathways. The Iran war will need to offer debt relief. The economics of the indebted American 20-and 30-something make this the most efficient conversion mechanism available to the Pentagon and the Trump administration," the author stresses.
He calls the scheme morally uncomfortable but also describes it as the Pentagon and the Trump administration's "most efficient conversion mechanism", arguing that countries recruit by tailoring incentives to their specific populations.
Jaff's piece framed the chilling scheme as one of three non-kinetic options for Washington to defeat Iran alongside US congressional recognition of Iranian minority independence and an agreement with China over Iranian oil.
The article has generated widespread criticism, with many dismissing the proposals as flawed from a US perspective, others questioning the author's competence, and some arguing that Israel seeks to fight Iran "until the last American".
News outlets such as The Blaze framed the proposal as an "immodest" or cynical exploitation of American indebtedness. It called Jaff's plan as an outlandish suggestion to send debt-strapped young Americans to the front lines.
The Mises Institute entitled its note 'The Jerusalem Post Calls for More Americans to Enlist – to Die for Israel', characterising the piece as an Israeli news outlet calling on US taxpayers to subsidise another war.
