Web Letters: Is the Next Defense Budget a Stimulus Package?

This is a good article! I spent some time in the military, and have, over the years, read a fair number of books on defense subjects. Frankly, the description of the handcrafted F-22 made me shutter, but wasn't a surprise. As with Boeing's Dreamliner, they probably outsourced parts overseas for cheap labor and have to wait on their delivery. No economy of scale there! I don't think the present generation knows what a proper Air Force and Army looks like or how it operates.

I opposed the Iraq war, but I really had a fit about private contractors supporting the combat troops. Private contractors lack the competence to support or be near military operations. While wars are not cheap, our privatized military drove costs through the roof.

I was walking my dog one evening facing in the direction of the Pacific, when I saw a missile over the ocean heading South toward San Diego. It was detonated over the water, probably because they couldn't get it to go in the right direction. I don't know if the test was for of the missile defense systems, but I have zero confidence they can get any missile going in the right direction, and actually hit any incoming missile. This is nothing but corporate welfare. The American government has been turned into corporate welfare.

Pervis James Casey

Riverside, CA