posted on May 7, 2007 01:59:45 PM new
With tornado season upon us and hurricane season not far away, the National Guard and its equipment will be in great demand as part of the disaster response and recovery operations.
But there’s a problem. The availability of that equipment, or more accurately, its scarcity because of the Iraq War, is back in the news thanks to the Greensburg, Kansas tornado that destroyed the southwest Kansas town.
This from an Associated Press report which carried comments by Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat:
In Kansas, the governor said the state's response was limited by the shifting of emergency equipment, such as tents, trucks and semitrailers, to the war in Iraq.
"Not having the National Guard equipment, which used to be positioned in various parts of the state, to bring in immediately is really going to handicap this effort to rebuild," she said.
Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the adjutant general's office, which manages state resources during emergencies, said the state has a shortage of heavy equipment transport trailers, pallet-sized loading systems, Humvees, dump trucks and other large equipment that would be help move massive amount of debris.
"We are never at 100 percent because we are allocated a certain amount from the National Guard Bureau. With the war, we are much shorter than we would be. We have about 40 percent of what is allocated," Watson said.
The unavailability of National Guard equipment due to the war broke significantly into public consciousness after the federal government’s poor response to Hurricane Katrina and has been echoed after other natural disasters.
The non-partisan Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative arm, has repeatedly cited the deployment of the guard troops and its equipment as a problem for domestic preparedness for not just natural disasters but terrorist events.
It didn’t take long for Sebelius’s comment to be used by opponents of Bush’s surge strategy. An anti-war umbrella group called Americans Against Escalation in Iraq issued a statement this morning that featured the Sebelius quote.
“Governors, the Special Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, and Retired Generals warned President Bush that his Iraq war strategy would push the already overstretched Guard to the breaking point. Bush ignored the warnings and plowed ahead with his escalation of the war in Iraq. Now Kansans are paying the price for the recklessness of our Commander-in-Chief,” said Americans Against Escalation in Iraq spokeswoman Moira Mack.
“President Bush’s Iraq escalation strategy spurred ire from Americans coast to coast who are demanding a responsible end to the war. With this news, President Bush has inspired a new level of wrath for recklessly putting Americans at risk here at home in order to stubbornly continue his failed Iraq strategy,” added Mack.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on May 7, 2007 03:13:12 PM new
Something the AP neglected to mention in the above-referenced piece that was reported by the wire service earlier on Sunday: "The president has declared parts of Kansas a disaster area, freeing up federal money to aid in recovery."
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.George S. Patton
posted on May 7, 2007 03:19:43 PM new
The AP, as of late, is changing. More and more anti-war bias showing up in their 'wire' services than ever has before.
Blame the war in Iraq for EVERYTHING. lol
That's the liberal way.
Oh BUT....wait. The liberal leaders aren't going to 'bring our troops HOME'. Nope they have plans to RE-DEPLOY them to other nations to FIGHT THERE.
So will they not need their OWN supplies when fighting in those new re-deployment areas? Or do the liberals want to TAKE THOSE AWAY from our troops then too.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
