Well after Bush was cornered with the question about whether troop deployment to Iraq depleted The gaurd neccassary to respond to New Orleans he reponded "absolutly not..we have plenty to do both" So I guess that's why they're pulling 7,000 Louisianna national gaurd out of Iraq and returning them to home to help out with the disaster...we have plenty huh?
I heard it on cnn last night......now I see they've changed course, must be to save Bush's reputation BAGHDAD, Iraq National Guard troops from Louisiana and other Gulf states will not be withdrawn from Iraq ahead of schedule, despite devastation from Hurricane Katrina. Some units already are due to leave next month, ending a year in Iraq, but the process could take weeks to complete. The U-S Command says it has installed help lines for troops trying to contact family members. Still, pressure appears to be building for an early pullout allowing troops to return to their home states battered by Katrina. More than 18-thousand National Guard troops in the United States have been dedicated to Katrina relief and security. This could be the largest military response to a natural disaster. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
That doesn't really prove much. Of course the Louisiana national guard should deal with a home state disaster. it doesn't mean that there weren't enough NG troops in the US.
Oh i see, the possibility there 'tour of duty' could be shortened by a month [or so].. for compassionate reasons.... It is a shame this is not so. Saying that .. reading this , it makes your erm point a bit better [well it would have] BAGHDAD, Sept. 7 -- Hundreds of Louisiana National Guard soldiers deployed in Iraq were in Kuwait on Wednesday as a first stop on the way home, where the majority of their 3,700-member brigade was likely to help with hurricane relief, U.S. military officials said. The military was also sending advance teams to help members of the Louisiana Guard's 256th Brigade Combat Team with their families' disaster assistance, as well as 100 military chaplains to counsel the veterans returning to devastation at home. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090702000.html "Missing the personnel is the big thing in this particular event. We need our people," said Lt. Andy Thaggard, a spokesman for the Mississippi National Guard, which has a brigade of more than 4,000 troops in central Iraq. Louisiana also has about 3,000 Guard troops in Baghdad. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083002162.html That makes 7,000 they all must be 'coming home' then ?... though this later dated info cotradicts that a little.. September 2, 2005 The 3,700 Louisiana National Guard members in Iraq will begin heading home within about a week as part of normal troop rotations, but no mass Guard movements back to the United States are planned to aid hurricane relief, U.S. military officials in Baghdad said Thursday. "Everyone we have here ... is needed here," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, senior spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq. Exceptions will be made to allow Guard members whose families have been hit especially hard to return, Lynch said. With thousands of National Guard troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Guard retaining fewer members at home, U.S. officials say the scale of the destruction along the Gulf Coast is stretching their stateside manpower. Wisconsin agreed Wednesday to send 500 Guard troops to Louisiana. http://www.startribune.com/stories/1762/5592310.html Oh well some time some how maybe maybe not you had a point..
That's only when the Guard units are not under federal control, which they are since we are in Iraq right now. At least most are.
