Governors Blast Bush over National Guard Deployments: Bad for Troops, States
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
Governors across the nation are lambasting President Bush for ordering over 12,000 National Guard soldiers to Iraq later this year. The deployments will not only weaken security at home but also further what one called "the Bush administration's failed policies."
That governor, Ted Strickland of Ohio, told Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the decision was "a breach of faith" since the troops were not supposed to be deployed until 2009. He also demanded that Bush assure him they will be properly trained and equipped
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said through a spokesman that the order amounts to "changing the rules" for soldiers. Guidelines proposed by Secretary Gates himself dictate that Guard units must have five years at home for every year deployed, but Arkansas' 39th Infantry Brigade spent 18 months in Iraq just two years ago. The spokesman noted that the National Guard is needed at home to handle natural disasters and other emergencies, like when guardsmen assisted police after tornadoes struck last February.
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry implied Bush was implementing "a sneaky back-door draft."
Meanwhile, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton personally wrote Gates about Army readiness in light of the "enormous stress and strain" caused by frequent deployments. He also noted the equipment crisis and expressed concern about the reports of current deployments being extended by four months. "I must ask you, Mr. Secretary, where does it end?"
Other states have also blasted Bush's use of the National Guard. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson said he is worried that Iraq has made his state unprepared to handle a hurricane. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer released a report showing his National Guard had only a fraction of mission critical equipment needed to respond to a terrorist attack. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said the deployments could impact how her state fights wildfires.
Even the nation's top Guard officer, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, says no state has more than 65% of the equipment they need. "If we don't have the equipment we need, the reaction time is slow, and time equals lives lost," Blum said. "Those lives are American lives."
Last year, nearly every governor signed a letter opposing Bush's use of federal control over the National Guard.
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Federalizing More Reservists For Active Duty
Pres. Bush made a comment not too long ago about U.S. dependence on the "civilian reserves" to protect America and America's interests. I wonder if he is talking about the individual states' Guard and Reserves, or could he be talking about the likes of Blackwater (civilian mercenary contractors with $200 million worth of DOD contracts who were deputized in Louisiana during Katrina); or could he be talking about the INFRAGUARD (a FBI civilian organization developed for spying on the American public); or is Pres. Bush talking about civilian military employees, dependents and contractors? I have not heard of any other civilian reserves other than these. Any input from the American civilian masses on this?
Uses of the Guard
Actually, the Guard IS federally funded, in fact mostly federally funded. States usually only provide a very small portion of Guard monies. The federal government pays their mandays and buys their equipment, with few exceptions. (States do not buy Abrams tanks and Apache helicopters.) States do pay for what is called State Active Duty, which is the U.S. Code Title 32 status Guard members serve in when under the command of the governor as during a response to a natural disaster. (It's significant to note that though the Guard is funded by and large by federal dollars, its day-to-day status is Title 32 and thereby officially comes under the command of the governor until it is federalized by order of the president. When that happens, the Guard transitions to a Title 10 status and is, as far as federal statutes are concerned, the same as active-duty forces.)
The Guard has always mirrored the active force in terms of its military occupational specialities, and as many Guard soldiers and airmen have prior active duty and have been doing their military jobs, even part-time, for many years, they tend to have more job knowledge and expertise than the average active-duty soldier or airman.
Finally, the Guard has always been available for worldwide deployment. The fact that, historically, the Guard's role has been as a strategic reserve and not as an operational force as it is today, has not been a factor in terms of the Guard's federal mission of taking part in the defense of the nation at home and abroad.
A Deployed Soldier
We need to rescind the law
We need to rescind the law that allows the President to steal National Guard State Militia away from the states. They are NOT federally funded. They are NOT federal soldiers. Since we are in NO DANGER and there is NO WAR ON THE HOMEFRONT, they should still be standing guard in each of their states.
They were NEVER MEANT to fight overseas.
In fact, I think war is outdated as a mode of communication.
Let's end WAR.
Let's end REPUBLICAN RULE BECAUSE IT FEEDS WAR.
REPUBLICANS EQUAL WAR.
OUST EVERY REPUBLICAN YOU CAN FROM DOGCATCHER ON UP.
King George
Am I mistaken, or is georgiepoo's crown just a bit askew of late? His romp over our Constitutional rights, lying us into an illegal "war", his phony "war on terror", anti-labor, anti-enviornmental, anti Social Security, and anti-everything else we hold dear agenda seems to have met with some resistance from a newly Democratic Congress. The chump-in-charge doesn't like that, and if the Democrats don't watch out, he's likely to hold his breath until he turns blue.