They're at 88% http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271070,00.html
JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Strong words after the storm, words that appear to support the arguments of those opposed to the war in Iraq, that the war is stretching the country's National Guard to the point where it cannot respond to the nation's natural disasters. After one of the most powerful tornadoes in a decade struck Greensburg, Kansas, Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius said the war in Iraq had left her National Guard without enough equipment to respond to the devastation. GOV. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS (D), KANSAS: About 50 percent of our trucks are gone. Our front loaders are gone. We are missing humvees that move people in and out and we cannot borrow them from other states because their equipment is gone. GRIFFIN: The White House was quick to counter, saying 88 percent of Kansas's National Guardsmen are available to help with the cleanup and only 566 of their guardsman are deployed to Iraq right now. The Pentagon, citing National Guard statistics, said today the Kansas guard is not facing any equipment shortage that would harm its rescue efforts. It currently has 352 humvees, 72 dump trucks and more than 320 other trucks. White House Spokesman Tony Snow said Homeland Security Chief Fran Townsend called Governor Sebelius and asked if she needed more help from FEMA or neighboring National Guard units. TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: And Fran again said, is there anything you need to respond effectively to this disaster? The governor said, no, we could not have asked for a faster response. GRIFFIN: A view echoed today by the head of the rescue effort in Kansas. DAVE STERBENZ, INCIDENT MANAGER: We have all the staff that we need and can manage at this time. If we had more people right now, it would just start being a cluster. GRIFFIN: Kansas Senator Sam Brownback added SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: I asked specifically yesterday, the Kansas adjutant general, the head of the Kansas National Guard, do you have enough equipment on the ground to take care of Greensburg? And he said, yes, we have enough equipment. GRIFFIN: Following Brownback on the Senate floor came Democratic leader Harry Reid, a staunch opponent of the war, who appeared to ignore reports that the Kansas National Guard had what it needed. SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: The toll of the war in Iraq crippled the ability of the National Guard to do the dangerous and heroic jobs they're charged with doing. And the inability of the Kansas National Guard to rescue and recover more quickly. On 5/10/07, G Money <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 5/9/07, Sam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > They are in Kansas. > > > At 40% capacity, which stresses them to the breaking point with a single > disaster (the greensburg tornado). If the recent flooding had been even one > iota worse than it was, the Guard would have been overwhelmed. > > You simply cannot deny the fact that if 60% of the National Guard is in > Iraq.....they aint here. No matter how you want to spin it, that's the > truth. > > Oh, and I just read today that the Greensburg tornado was an EF-5. Yikes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Macromedia ColdFusion MX7 Upgrade to MX7 & experience time-saving features, more productivity. http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion?sdid=RVJW Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:234399 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
