As the Gulf Coast begins to clean up from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the federal government is mobilizing all the resources it can gather to help out the citizens of that grief-stricken region. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is sending 500 trucks filled with water and emergency supplies to the area in an effort at staving off further tragedy, and the death toll continues to climb. Residents of the area looking to government-mandated relief funding will find it available in numerous forms.
However, as search and rescue operations commence, the National Guard assigned to that region will not be able to use all of its resources in helping the beleaguered residents of the area. Over 6,500 members of the Louisiana and Mississippi Guard brigades are in Iraq to quell the "insurgency" in an effort to set up some semblance of democracy there. But their efforts abroad are clearly at the expense of security at home.
Members of the New Orleans branch recently complained about the volume of their equipment that had been sent to Iraq. It was reported that dozens of its high-water vehicles, Humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad in the war effort. This was reported before Katrina hit and does not bode well for the area, though commanders in the region insist they have enough troops and equipment to fulfill their mandate: to protect and serve the homeland when called upon, especially in times of disaster.
Recent cuts in federal aid to the region, which ironically was directed towards the Guard's Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, were necessitated because of the Bush Administration's tax cuts and the $300 billion that has been spent thus far in the war effort. With record federal deficits mounting, expansion of "the War on Terror" on the horizon, and the military stretched to the breaking point, natural disasters expose the predicament our National Guard finds itself in.
All four branches of the service face difficulties in finding new recruits, and though the Army recently met its enlistment goals for July, it only reached those goals after adjusting its targets downward by a sleight of hand that would do Arthur Andersen proud. It also finds itself well behind the overall recruitment goals set for the year. The Guard itself fell almost 2,000 recruits short of its stated goal for July while the Army Reserve missed its quota by 400, meaning both part time services are about 20 percent short for the year.
The bottom line is that the war in Iraq affects us in ways that are not readily apparent until services that we come to expect - and need - aren't available due to the allocation of resources that occurs in a wartime environment. Those directly affected by Hurricane Katrina's wrath need help fast and could surely use the services of their fully equipped National Guard. That will not happen; hopefully FEMA and what Guardsmen are left in the United States will be enough.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
