The recent uproar surrounding the killings of the 4 mercenaries in Fallujah suggests an idea - that being, why not take the money being spent on soldiers of fortune and greedy contractors and use it, together with funding from the DoD's numerous white elephant weapons programs (e.g. missile defense) and use it to radically improve military pay and benefits and if need be, increase the country's troop strength.
It's a long-term strategy, perhaps useful to the Kerry campaign and could conceivably accomplish several goals, inter alia:
- Military service members and their families receive the pay and benefits they deserve commensurate with the risk and sacrifice that they endure.
- Tax dollars get spent on people and not corporations.
- Dems get a lot of military votes.
- Jobs get created - with good pay and bennies, offering real careers.