Two damning stories, today, encapsulate the devastation wrought on our military and our national security by the Bush Administration. The Associated Press just reported this: The U.S. military isn’t ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don’t have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a report.Even fewer Army National Guard units are combat-ready today than were nearly a year ago when the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves determined that 88 percent of the units were not prepared for the fight, the panel says in a new report released Thursday. The independent commission is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the Guard and Reserves. The commission’s 400-page report concludes that the nation "does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available" to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons incident, "an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk." "Right now we don’t have the forces we need, we don’t have them trained, we don’t have the equipment," commission Chairman Arnold Punaro said in an interview with The Associated Press…
"is destroying?" He "has destroyed" the National Guard. He’s used the National Guard as an alternative to raising an Army for his wars. So we don’t have a National Guard. We have a conscripted Army – soldiers diverted from the National Guard to the Army. I’ve always thought it was because by not instituting a draft, he could keep people from actually feeling the pinch from his wars of occupation. Whatever the case, he’s destroyed the National Guard in the process. This isn’t "news." It’s been going on since 2003…
I can think of nothing to add to your excellent post. But I want you to know that I read it and agree completely with what you say in the paragraph beginning “is destroying…” I have been amazed that there has not been any significant outcry about diverting soldiers from the National Guard to the Army. That is not what the National Guard is for! Keep up the good work.