Although he's shifted from being the Left's favorite conservative to being the Left's favorite target since he became a columnist for the New York Times, I still like reading David Brooks because he says things that I don't want to hear. Take his current column on Darfur, for example. The administration has been doing all those multi-consulti things about Darfur that many of us have criticized it for doing insufficiently prior to the invasion of Iraq. The consequence is, of course, that the people of Darfur continue to suffer and die by the thousands and tens of thousands, while the diplomats confer and deliberate.

But what are the implications of Brooks's argument? Does it expose the bankruptcy of diplomatic deliberations. Sure, they're bankrupt. But doesn't the argument cut the other way just as clearly? He doesn't say it, but Brooks knows full well that, under current conditions and for all kinds of reasons, the United States is not going to lead a" coalition of the willing" into Sudan for humanitarian purposes. For one thing, opening yet a third front against a Muslim nation would rip the mask off any pretense that our share in the struggles in Afghanistan and Iraq is anything other than a war on the Muslim world. For a second thing, having understaffed and underfunded the efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq, our current fiscal and manpower resources are already stretched to their limits.

Those who wish to send military forcesto rescue the people of Darfur should belly up to the bar and demand: 1) the re-instatement of a universal military draft in the United States, one that does not exempt the children of privilege; and 2) an immediate increase in taxes to begin to foot the bill for World War III and a patriotic campaign for the sale of war bonds to channel additional private resources to sustain the war effort. We should also begin rationing oil and gasoline, even manufactured goods for civilian consumption. Those of us who drive SUVs might be required by law to put them up on blocks for the foreseeable future. What was great about"the greatest generation" was that it understood quite clearly that a world war could not be fought without sacrifice on the domestic front. Even so, they left us with an enormously increased national debt. One of the things that is disgraceful about this administration is that it promises yet more war and yet more tax cuts.