May 08 2007

Kansas Governor claims her National Guard is depleted, but it isn’t

8 Responses to “Kansas Governor claims her National Guard is depleted, but it isn’t”

1. # Billy Joeon 09 May 2007 at 2:03 am

   Uh… I think she’s complaining that a lot of their *equipment* is over in Iraq.

   Does it not make sense that if the equipment is over there getting blown up, that it can’t be used in the US?

   You sound like you love Iraq more than you love America? You might consider moving there - I hear freedom is on the march there.

   The national guard and it’s equipment should be used in America, not abused & run into the ground in the Commander Guy’s ™ catastrophic failure of a war (in the wrong country, no less).

2. # Karlon 09 May 2007 at 3:04 am

   Billy,

   You apparently missed where the dod pointed out how much is available.

   She just wanted to politicize tragedy.

3. # sanityon 09 May 2007 at 12:35 pm

   Billy Joe your a troll and ignorant.

   1st, she had all equipment and personnel needed that she requested. Everything she requested from the government she got and got quickly - she stated she was VERY satisfied with the response and help she got in private but to the public she turned and exploited the lives and pain of those hit to make a political point.

   2nd, the National Guard was already activated also - they are on annual training and all they would need would be told this is where they are going.

   3rd, While a majority of that area’s equipment may have been Iraq, there were several other military places surrounding they could have pulled equipment from - but she said she didn’t need anything more. Government transcipts rebut her public statements.

   Lastly you make one rediculous point that is easily refuted and the rest is nothing but attacking the host, and talking crap.

4. # Billy Joeon 09 May 2007 at 6:56 pm

   Karl,

   Why didn’t you say so in your original post? You could have included links backing up the assertions you make in your comment to me and then I’d be persuaded. as it is, there are no links except for the DOD one in the original post.

   I wasn’t aware that the National Guard could simply “pull” equipment at will from, say, US Army and Air Force bases nor was I aware that the Governor privately stated she was very satisfied but publicly she criticized the fact that their Nat’l Guard equipment was being used to spread freedom in Iraq.

   Should I just take your “moderate” word for it or is there an authoritative link you can provide that’ll shoot down my trollish arguments in a blaze of Patriot missile-like glory?

5. # Billy Joeon 09 May 2007 at 6:57 pm

   It looks like I can’t comment. You aren’t cutting-and-running from a debate, are you?

6. # Karlon 09 May 2007 at 11:46 pm

   All of your comments are showing, and I found none in my spam filter, so I don’t know what you are referring to.

   I don’t censor comments except in extreme situations involving profanity, and even then I censor the offending words only, not the whole post. To date I have done this twice.

   I have also yet to ever ban anyone from commenting, and I have only disabled comments on a post once or twice.

   As for your previous comment, I wasn’t reporting on what she said because the ’sphere is wild with people commenting on that. Sorry if that omission confused you. I was merely editorializing on her motivations. In both her and Blanco’s cases they whined about the war depleting their resources, even though they never invoked the additional resources available.

   In this present case, it turns out her forces really were depleted, down to 60% of their intended levels - but they were in that condition before the war even started. That is not Bush’s fault.

   Finally, I chuckled when you accused me of running on the debate. That is cute, considering your email address is fake, which I found out when I tried to respond to you directly.

   Have a nice day

7. # Billy Joeon 10 May 2007 at 12:33 am

   why would I want to debate thru e-mail? It’s so much more enjoyable to engage publicly.

   would you just throw me a bone and send me an authoritative link confirming your assertions above? It doesn’t seem like to much to ask considering the charge you’re making. I haven’t seen it and I’ve been wading into the right wing blogosphere where I would normally go to find people defending Mr. 28%.

8. # Karlon 10 May 2007 at 12:58 am

   I was emailing you about the comment accusation, not the debate.

   A couple links for you.

   First, here is where she backs off her accusation:

   At Snow’s second, midday briefing with reporters, he offered that it turned out that the state had requested several items that the federal government supplied _ those radios, and also a mobile command center and a mobile office building, an urban search and rescue team and coordination on extra Black Hawk helicopters.

   Snow recounted a phone conversation on Tuesday between Sebelius and Bush’s White House-based homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, in which the governor said she was pleased with the federal performance on the tornado and had everything she needed.

   About the same time, Sebelius was doing her own backpedal from across the country.

   Her spokeswoman, Nicole Corcoran, said the governor didn’t mean to imply that the state was ill-equipped to deal with this storm. Sebelius’ comments about National Guard equipment were, instead, meant as a warning about the state’s inability to handle additional disasters, such as another tornado or severe flooding, she said.

   The DOD says:

   More than 300 members of the Kansas National Guard have been activated in response to a powerful tornado that almost destroyed the town of Greensburg, Kan., May 4.

   Guard members are assisting in search-and-rescue efforts in the wake of the tornado, which was classified as an F-5, the highest rating given by the National Weather Service.

   The tornado wiped out much of the small town, knocking out power, water, natural gas and communications. To date, 10 deaths and more than 100 injuries have been reported.

   The Kansas National Guard’s 278th Sustainment Brigade has established a joint task force near the incident site. In addition to search-and-rescue efforts, the troops are working on power generation, logistical support, debris clearing, support to law enforcement, supporting establishment of shelters and distribution of food and water.

   Currently, the Kansas National Guard has 88 percent of its forces available, 60 percent of its Army Guard dual-use equipment on hand, and more than 85 percent of its Air Guard equipment on hand, said Randal Noller, public affairs officer for the National Guard Bureau. Under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is a national partnership agreement that allows state-to-state assistance during governor or federally declared emergencies, Kansas has more than 400,000 Guardsmen available to it, he pointed out. However, Kansas has not yet requested assistance from other states.

   And pop in to hotair for a lot more info