very very sad depravity by governor sebelius to say didn't have enough guardsmen because of the war in iraq!!! not the time for making antiwar statement. further, there were plenty of guard. finally, her own party is contributing to the personnel issues of the guard generally by micromanaging the iraq war and holding up funding; her party, the democrats, is causing the equipment shortage of the guard to worsen by that micromanagement too. she complained there wasn't enough equipment for the guard, which is probably true. however the dems withholding funding for their micromanagement are stopping funding for reequipping guard units and for repairing their equipment. that money also included money to support personnell for full-time and guard personnel.

can we say h y p o c r i s y? just for a national stroke session she makes this dig! depravity.

Sebelius comment near bottom half of article..........

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/07/severe.weather/index.html

From the article: ... Gov. Sebelius, a Democrat, told CNN the use of so many National Guard troops and resources in Iraq is slowing Kansas' efforts to recover.

"States all over the country are not only missing personnel -- National Guard troops are about 40 percent of the troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan -- but we're missing the equipment," she said. "When the troops get deployed, the equipment goes with them. So here in Kansas about 50 percent of our trucks are gone. We need trucks. We are missing humvees, we're missing all kinds of equipment that could help us respond in this kind of emergency."

The governor said city and county trucks were destroyed in the region. "National Guard are our first responders. They don't have the equipment they need to come in, and it'll just make it that much slower."

The National Guard has said for years that it is short of equipment at home due to deployments to Iraq.

"Of course I agree with the governor," Bunting told CNN. "We have limited resources. So if we had another big storm right now we'd be hard-pressed to cover that." ...

I don't see the problem with Sebelius's statement. It happens to be the precise reason that the Guard is unable to provide a more robust response. If anything, CNN's choice to use the nonrestrictive clause identifying her as a Democrat will make it seem as though the only reason she made her remark is to make an anti-war statement, in turn feeding the political fire for the OP here, who apparently think the governor should make up a reason for the Guard's current state of unreadiness. This wish for some sunshine up the skirt might explain the OP's obvious and utter disconnect from the facts on the ground here, in DC, and in Iraq.

In fact, of course, the very real effects of the war have nothing to do with the party of the governor or the president. The facts--they are what they are. Anyone wishing to embarrass the president would find it difficult to excel the president's own accomplishments in that arena, and in any case would likely find more success trying to embarrass someone with a sense of decency, justice and perhaps even shame.

So, would Kanye West declare in this case that "George Bush doesn't care about white people?"

Sibelius has been warning Kansans for some time that having most of the National Guard and its equipment in Iraq made us vulnerable for an emergency here.

Nancy Boyda has issued the same warning.

Now with Greensberg we get a taste of this reality.

And it could have been an even more widespread and devastating disaster.

Politics has nothing to do with the Governor's remarks.

Your President is a moron. He has wasted our limited resources.

Deal with it.

okay, do I get an apology...waiting!

it has been published that the admin and pentagon says without the supplimental appropriation for iraq that guard equipment and guard equipment repair would be put on HOLD.

no real indication that there's a shortage of guardsmen, despite the handwringing. the equipment shortage, yes. but her own party is holding up the replacement/repair of guard equipment.

bush will visit greensburg. more bush derangement syndrome.

good example from The Coffeyville Journal...lots of guardsmen, need more equipment. dems stop holding up the funding!

Local guard units off to aid in tornado recovery Joseph Thomas

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. - A number of Kansas National Guard soldiers from the 891st Engineering Battalion were assigned to assist in efforts at Greensburg, site of Friday's F-5 tornado that obliterated the town.

Members of the 891st were "called in for support of debris removal and to assist the families with debris removal," said Sharon Watson, director of public affairs for the Kansas National Guard.

Currently there are around 70 soldiers from the 891st in Greensburg, with an estimated 120 soldiers total.

The 891st arrived Monday morning "along with chainsaws and light engineering equipment to assist with debris removal."

Governor Kathleen Sebelius commented that a lack of heavy equipment would hamper clean up efforts going forward.

"The equipment has not been an issue before today," said Watson. "It has not hampered our search and rescue efforts."

Watson said clean up efforts will look for alternative sources of earth-moving equipment, such as private industry, to assist in coming days.

She believes that another estimated 150 soldiers will be brought to the area to help with recovery efforts. print this story