I believe major cuts can be made in the military budget, because, like the rest of the government, it has become a source of corporate welfare. If we get private enterprise out of government and dump useless missile defense programs, the American taxpayer would be saved billions of dollars. I think any program that a defense contractor handles should be examined. You cannot trust them. Defense contracts cannot be outsourced overseas, because of logistics problems and a lack of control over the product. Boeing can't get their dream liner off the ground because outsourced equipment has not been delivered. While I opposed the Iraq war and want us out now, I was shocked at the incompetence of the Defense Department in how it handled the war. The 4th Division happened to be my last outfit in the Army at Ft. Lewis; those idiots in Washington had it sitting on the Turkish coast during the conventional phase of the war, and they are still stuck in Baghdad.

Pervis James Casey

Riverside, CA