Kerry Presses Bush to Repair Mass. Guard

[Hissyspit]

Source: Boston Globe

Kerry presses Bush to repair Mass. Guard
Seeks 'sufficient' aid for readiness

By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff / February 3, 2008
WASHINGTON - Senator John F. Kerry has urged President Bush to "provide sufficient funds" in his new budget plan to repair the readiness of the Massachusetts National Guard after a federal commission revealed that frequent overseas deployments have left it with severe equipment shortages. In a letter to the president Friday, the Massachusetts Democrat expressed "deep concern regarding the effects that active-duty combat tours are having on the Massachusetts National Guard's ability to respond to state emergencies."

- snip -

Kerry was responding to the final report Thursday of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which was established by Congress in 2005.

- snip -

The 400-page report was billed as the most comprehensive investigation of its kind in 60 years. It concluded that National Guard forces nationwide are insufficiently equipped to respond domestically to natural disasters or terrorist attacks, their primary mission. On average, the Army National Guard, which is located in every state and territory, had 61 percent of its equipment on hand, the commission said.

National Guard officials did not dispute the equipment shortages in a briefing to Pentagon reporters Friday. "Is it accurate? It's absolutely accurate," said Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. But he insisted that if it weren't for Defense Department action in recent years, the situation would be worse. "Two years ago that map would have showed the National Guard at 40 percent" nationwide, not 61 percent, Blum said, crediting an "unprecedented, historic commitment of actually putting resources against that problem."

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/03/kerry_presses_bush_to_repair_mass_guard

[Ian David]

1. The National Guard is unprepared to guard the nation thanks to the Iraq occupation?

In related news, ursine mammals do indeed defecate in verdant environments.