Next Prez's To-Do: Fix Military

Budget woes aren't the only defense issue facing White House's next denizen
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 31, 2008 3:39 PM CDT
Next Prez's To-Do: Fix Military
United States Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, shown in this Oct. 8, 2004 file photo, "possesses a rare mix of leadership talent, soldierly prowess, intelligence, raw ambition, and luck" that the military needs more of, according to the authors.   (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Has President Bush done irreparable damage to our armed forces? Not necessarily, Phillip Carter and Fred Kaplan write in Slate, offering a to-do list for the next president to tackle as he or she begins the process of fixing a military "in strange shambles."

  1. Overhaul the budget: "We don't have the money to stay this course."

  1. Fix the Army: "Army recruiters face a serious challenge as long as signing up means getting assigned to Iraq."
  2. Promote the right leaders: "Many creative officers leave the Army after realizing that it holds no future for them."
  3. Spread the responsibilities: "Some senior Army officers would rather have 500 more Foreign Service officers than 5,000 more soldiers."
  4. Pay for it: "If we want to continue the kind of military we're pursuing, and the kinds of wars we're fighting, then let's pass a surtax to pay for it. If we don't want to pay for it, then let's drop the whole idea."
Click the link below for the complete list. (More military stories.)

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