OPINION
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Next Prez's To-Do: Fix Military
Budget woes aren't the only defense issue facing White House's next denizen
By Evann Gastaldo
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Posted Mar 31, 08 3:39 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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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."
- Overhaul the budget: "We don't have the money to stay this course."
- Fix the Army: "Army recruiters face a serious challenge as long as signing up means getting assigned to Iraq."
- Promote the right leaders: "Many creative officers leave the Army after realizing that it holds no future for them."
- Spread the responsibilities: "Some senior Army officers would rather have 500 more Foreign Service officers than 5,000 more soldiers."
- 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.