Many of the Bush haters out there are blaming the war in Iraq for the slow response by the National Guard to the disaster in New Orleans. There has been lots of shrillness, lots of accusations that the Guard is stretched too thin, and plenty of calling for the head of Bush on a platter. Here are the facts.
Not hardly. According to Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, 75 percent of the Army and Air National Guard are available nationwide. In addition, the federal government has agreed since the conflict in Iraq started not to mobilize more than 50 percent of Guard assets in any given state, in order to leave sufficient resources for governors to respond to emergencies.
In Louisiana only about a third of Guard personnel are deployed, and they will be returning in about a week as part of their normal rotation. The Mississippi Guard has 40 percent overseas. But Louisiana and Mississippi are not alone in this effort — under terms of Emergency Management Assistance Compacts (EMACs) between the states, Guard personnel are heading to the area from West Virginia, D.C., New Mexico, Utah, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Alabama, Washington, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, and Michigan. Thousands have already arrived, and more will over the next day or so.”
I know we’re all having fun playing the blame game while people continue to die, but those of you who blame Bush and Iraq for any of the lackluster response that caused people to die may now have a big, tasty glass of STFU while you seek out others reasons to spew your silly and non-productive brand of pissing and moaning with no real goals in mind.