[webheart]

But the military's logistics feats come with a high price tag that goes far beyond the $7.7 billion we spend every month on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Arguments against war (any war):

1) Our young men will die fighting an unjust war.

2) Innocent people will die in the line of fire.

3) Can't we all just get along?

4) It's too expensive.

That is all this brilliant whistleblower expose of government waste and corruption amounts to: why we shouldn't be fighting to protect ourselves. Did they ever stop to ask how much it cost to have the World Trade Center demolished? That was an expensive proposition. And what would it cost to have another such disaster inflicted upon us?

[68skylark]

When the country goes to war, the war can be managed well or it can be managed poorly. From my reading of military history, we've had a lot of poorly managed wars, even though we've usually won in the end.

I think that Boot is suggesting that this war can be managed better. With fewer support services, we could cut the costs of the war dramatically AND put more troops "outside the wire" where they are needed. And furthermore, if we did this right we may be able to have much shorter tours in Iraq.

I'm not sure if he's right or wrong -- it's a complex subject. I think he may have some good points.