Robert Scheer is basically on the right track with this article, and what we are looking at in this budget is the Bush Administration turning the defense budget, and the government generally, into a cash cow for defense contractors, big business and the multinationals. On the defense side of things, you cancel the various useless missile defense systems that cost a fortune and don't work. You are therefore dependent on your deterrents, so Lieberman, to a certain extent, is correct about nuclear submarines, but replacement only for old ships.

While you may need a few modern fighters, the A-10, the Harriers and helicopters are providing close air support and doing the grunt work against insurgents. You might want to upgrade and replace damaged ones, but they are doing the job. There are only so many shapes for an air frame, and just because it is new doesn't make it effective. We need to stick with attack aircraft!

The biggest budget-buster is the private security companies and private companies that are attempting to supply the military in the field. Replace them with military experts on supplying the troops and you will get better results cheaper. You will get nothing but graft and corruption from private enterprise, along with "golden parachutes" for CEOs when they mess up . This magazine has already looked at the private security companies, and the readers need no further education about them. But these people cost a fortune and they have neither the organization or all the skills that go with a professional army. Private enterprise is about profit and not about efficiency. Government, and the military in particular, is a whole different set of skills.

Pervis J. Casey

Riverside, CA