The annual National Governors Association met in Des Moines and one big issue on their plate? Bush's abuse of the National Guard. We're only beginning to understand how Bush's backdoor draft and abuse of the Guard is damaging our national security here at home and our ability to respond to natural disasters.
The nation's governors are expressing growing concern that the extended deployment of National Guard soldiers in Iraq is depleting troop resources at home, threatening to leave states unable to respond to the natural disasters, civil unrest and other domestic emergencies that traditionally lead governors to call out the Guard.
The state's leaders, meeting here at the summer gathering of the National Governors Association, said they were worried that the extended overseas deployments, combined with declining enlistments as National Guard stints have become lengthy postings in war zones, would strip them of what has for years been a bulwark against domestic emergencies.
THis is going to be a problem for many, many years to come. Thanks, Bush!
