Pacific Views

Where Is The National Guard

Gov. Bill Richardson asks, but we all know the answer:

... It is a sad irony that yesterday, the very day I sent fire crews to California, 300 more New Mexico National Guard members were sent to Iraq. Just when we need them most at home, more of our brave men and women, true public servants, are sent away to a war we cannot win.

Never before in our history has our National Guard, a group of dedicated men and women who serve our country and provide critical aid in the time of natural disasters been used, and re-used, for so long to fight a war tens of thousands of miles away.

In California, the Guard force is authorized to have over 21,000 members. Today, that number is just under 15,000. Why the decline? I believe it has nothing to do with a diminished commitment to service, but rather is a frustration with having that commitment abused, and families turned upside down, just so President Bush can continue to pretend his war can succeed. ...

My home state is on fire, and a lot of the people who'd normally be there to put it out are in Iraq. As is much of the equipment they'd normally have available to use. When Katrina hit the Gulf, when the floods hit Kansas, as drought turns the West into a tinderbox, our National Guard forces were bogged down in Iraq instead of here at home taking care of their primary responsibility to the nation.

You know what good homeland security would be? If when natural disasters hit, we could better protect ourselves from them. Because if we can't handle floods, storms and fires, I have deep suspicions that we won't be able to handle dirty bombs or widespread infrastructure sabotage, either.

Posted by natasha at October 24, 2007 03:11 PM | Iraq | TrackBack(2) | Technorati links |