Before a country goes to war, it should put it to a vote. The total cost of the war should be presented, along with how long it will take to pay for it, and how much it will increase taxes. And if you think politicians don't know how much a war will cost, think again. Many of them probably experience financial or political gain from a war. The voters should also be told how many of the military will be killed and maimed.

Of course, when Hitler invaded Poland, the world didn't have much choice, but so many military operations seem to be optional.

We all know that people suffer and die in wars, but we think that when the war is over, it's over. A guy I went to school with lost a leg in Vietnam, and that leg is still gone. Another schoolmate was killed, something his family has to deal with daily.

Before a country goes to war, it should put it to a vote. The total cost of the war should be presented, along with how long it will take to pay for it, and how much it will increase taxes. And if you think politicians don't know how much a war will cost, think again. Many of them probably experience financial or political gain from a war. The voters should also be told how many of the military will be killed and maimed.

Of course, when Hitler invaded Poland, the world didn't have much choice, but so many military operations seem to be optional.
Ditto !!!
We all know that people suffer and die in wars, but we think that when the war is over, it's over. A guy I went to school with lost a leg in Vietnam, and that leg is still gone. Another schoolmate was killed, something his family has to deal with daily.

Great ideas but the cost of wars is far more than politicians would estimate publically. The costs of the Vietnam War destroyed the War on Poverty, froze domestic spending boosts for health, education, and infrastructure, and traumatized and polarized a generation, here and in Southeast Asia. It is still deeply polarizing for people who were alive then. We still have Vietnam War vets with grievous injuries, PTSD, and people who were raised without a father. If I recall accurately, that war was never declared, and the precipitating event, the Tonkin Bay incident didn't actually happen. Halliburton Construction made billions of dollars.
Ditto !! Nothing more I could add !!
More recently, if my memory is accurate, Rumsfeld estimated the total cost of invading Iraq would not exceed 8 billion dollars and the war would be over in a few months. George W. Bush stated that he was not interested in nation building, but after 9/11 we got bogged down in nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan using the full power and commitment of our people and military, without success. We're still involved with both countries in what looks like perpetual conflict. The majority of the population in North Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan hate us and blame us for all their troubles. That's in spite of our human and economic sacrifice and the massive squandering of our national wealth. Has an occupying foreign military ever not been hated, anywhere or at any time? Halliburton Construction made billions in those wars.

History is awash with great countries and empires that became weak and then failed because of war bleeding their resources. I think we're right on the edge of joining that group.

We need the wisdom, leadership, and political will to work together and compromise for the common good, to get us to first tend to our own affairs, our welfare, our infrastructure, to reconfigure our military to be powerful enough to prevent and/or defeat invasion from Canada or Mexico, defend our coasts and trade routes, and to make a proportional contribution to common defense in Southeast Asia and with NATO.

I think George Washington had it right when he warned us to avoid foreign entanglements. That's an example of what I mean by wisdom and leadership.