From: Rich Gauszka 

you keep ignoring this government's ( GAO ) own report. of course now we
can use that "valuable" deployment to look for the billions of
dollars in missing oil along with the missing wmd in Iraq

http://www.star-telegram.com/238/story/94581.html

Government Accountability Office report in January found that of 300 types
of equipment needed in natural disasters, the Guard had fewer in all
categories than it did in 2001, before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some of the equipment is unavailable for domestic disasters, the GAO found,
including radios and dump trucks. Only 2 percent of the diesel generators
needed are available, the study found.

The GAO report estimated that Guard units in the U.S. have only 50 percent
of the equipment they would need in the event of a disaster. A study by the
National Guard Association of the United States puts that figure at 40
percent, according to John Goheen, the group's spokesman.

TEXANS KILLED

Mark wrote:
> Fair enough Bob. My thoughts are the reduced availability of the National
> Guard here at home is probably not anywhere near what it is twisted into
> and/or the implied point of view of inability to respond (this was addressed
> early on the thread) and even if it were, their deployment over there is
> more valuable to the future of our country than if they weren't. IMHO.
>
>
> "Robert G Lewis"  wrote in message
> news:46464769{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Or you could actually address the points raised and reply with actual
>> information.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:464639bc$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> P.S. In a nutshell John, your philosphy is that we should
never have gone
>>> into Iraq, we should get out ASAP and we should work from a
"law and
>>> order" and defensive posture (a 9/10 mind-set in other words).
>>>
>>> I disagree, I will never agree, so we really shouldn't do
these arguments
>>> any more, cause I doubt you're moving either 
>>>
>>> "Mark"  wrote in message
>>> news:46463765$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Yes, I see that Dem footprint all over the whining:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Kansas Governor makes overstated claims about no help
when we can see
>>>> with our own eyes that the rescue is in progress.
>>>> 2) Yesterday an AP article in my local paper with a few
more governors
>>>> (Dem) chiming in about how the United States is in deep
trouble because
>>>> of Bush
>>>> 3) Some retired general (lots of them out there
undermining their still
>>>> active duty brethren aren't there?) claiming in a Saturday radio
>>>> rebuttal (fancy footwork on that Howard!!! good for you bad for
>>>> Petraous's mission, bad for the troops in general, and bad
for the USA)
>>>> that we need a new direction so we can have our troops back here to
>>>> protect us. We have a new friggin direction and Petraous
is carrying it
>>>> out -- shut retired general, please, pretty friggin please.
>>>>
>>>> What a bunch of hooey -- I am not interested in cleaning
up the brain
>>>> matter more efficiently on our streets and in our malls
after an attack,
>>>> I'm interested in killing them where they are, instead of cutting,
>>>> running and buying new ambulances as they follow us here
(and already
>>>> are).
>>>>
>>>> "John Cuccia"  wrote in message
>>>> news:dtpb435svr6fk9gef18m21b6adv5fmf71m{at}4ax.com...
>>>>> On Mon, 7 May 2007 20:36:39 -0400, "Mark"
 wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> The valid point is this Bob: because the Iraq war
is currently
>>>>>> unpopular in
>>>>>> national polls, the governor chooses a disaster
for her citizens to get
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> cheap shot in at their expense
>>>>> No.  The real valid point is that the Iraqi quagmire
has depleted both
>>>>> the regular Army and the ANG.  All 50 governors have
been trying to
>>>>> get someones attention for the past several years (and
in case you are
>>>>> unaware, that number includes both Republicans and Democrats):
>>>>>
>>>>>
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070513govs-guard-story
,1,3999163.story?coll=chi-news-hed
>>>>> Not long after that meeting, all 50 U.S. governors-the
commanders in
>>>>> chief of their states' National Guards-signed a letter
to President
>>>>> Bush imploring him to immediately begin reoutfitting
their depleted
>>>>> National Guards. But little changed, and the Guard now
has only 56
>>>>> percent of its required equipment, the lowest level in
nearly six
>>>>> years, according to the Government Accountability Office.
>>>>>
>>>>> and
>>>>>
>>>>> In late 2005, a GAO report found that almost every
state's National
>>>>> Guard had just a fraction of the equipment it was
supposed to have.
>>>>> Another GAO report issued just months ago took the
criticism further.
>>>>> "The high use of the National Guard for federal
overseas missions has
>>>>> reduced equipment available for its state-led domestic
missions," it
>>>>> concluded. The top commander of the National Guard,
Lt. Gen. Steven
>>>>> Blum, testified to Congress last month that the
continuous use of its
>>>>> forces for overseas missions has "resulted in a
decline of readiness
>>>>> for units here at home."
>>>>>
>>>>> Missing equipment-much of which has been shipped to
Iraq or destroyed
>>>>> there-is a large part of the problem. Certain states
are worse off:
>>>>> Arizona has just 34 percent of its allotted equipment;
New Jersey and
>>>>> Idaho 42 percent; and Louisiana, ground zero for the
worst natural
>>>>> disaster in modern memory, remains at less than 50 percent.
>>>>>
>>>>> Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, wrote in
March to the
>>>>> House Armed Services Committee that her state's
National Guard was
>>>>> missing the kinds of vehicles it would need to dig out from a
>>>>> late-spring northeaster or to evacuate residents in
the wake of a
>>>>> flood. The California National Guard, routinely called
up in the event
>>>>> of earthquakes and any subsequent looting, is missing
700 Humvees, and
>>>>> it has only half the high-water vehicles it should and
less than a
>>>>> third of its required stockpile of machine guns.
>>>>>
>>>>> In Illinois, the GAO estimates that the Guard has just
45 percent of
>>>>> its authorized equipment on hand and that it is
particularly short of
>>>>> trucks, earthmovers and other equipment critical to emergency
>>>>> response.
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

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