OK, I can't take it anymore; I'm going to get on my political high horse and call this administration on a devastating lie. The most recent reason being given for invading and occupying Iraq is to protect Americans. An oft-repeated talking point declares that it is important to fight "them" over there in order to keep us safe over here. Never mind that Iraq had no connection to the terrorists who attacked us, there is another issue here that is becoming horribly apparent, yet no one I have seen or heard in the media is making the connection: our National Guard has become an occupying force and can no longer do its vital job.

First, I find it appalling that Bush continues to trumpet his spotty National Guard service as evidence of his willingness to defend this country with his life. He made a big deal of his service when he spoke at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention a week ago. What he neglects to mention is that he was in the National Guard then because his family's connections secured him a safe spot away from the fighting in Vietnam. Note that I say "away from the fighting." The Federal government can take control of National Guard units away from the states for major conflicts, yet "no massive call-ups of National Guard troops occurred to meet the country's military manpower requirements during the Vietnam War" (Minnesota National Guard's Website). Oddly, LBJ implemented a draft instead. Today, being in the National Guard means practically immediate duty in a war zone; during the Vietnam war, the National Guard saw (admittedly traumatic) duty controlling anti-war and race riots but it was far from the long and deadly stints people are now being required to serve in Iraq.

While Bush's equation of two very different types of National Guard service is troubling and frankly embarrassing, what is positively criminal is where it has put this country in terms of true safety at home. We are all familiar with the effects of hurricane Katrina. Well, read what the Louisiana Army National Guard Website has to say about the purpose of the organization:

"The Guard is organized, trained and equipped to be available in times of national emergency, upon the call of the President. It can also be called upon by the Governor for state duty, to preserve peace and order and protect life and property in the event of natural disasters or civil disturbances."

Clearly, there is no more critical time for the National Guard to serve its intended purpose than right now, as New Orleans drowns and civil stability dissolves: "Gov. Kathleen Blanco [Louisiana] said she has asked the White House to send more people to help with evacuations and rescues, thereby freeing up National Guardsmen to stop looters." (New York Times, 8/31/05) The reason the National Guard is fully occupied with evacuations and rescues? Because there are only 1,300 (or 1,500, I find conflicting numbers) troops left in the state out of a full complement of 11,500. The rest are supposedly protecting our safety in Iraq. Other states on the Gulf Coast are similarly short-handed, working with 1/10th the number of people they should have to protect U.S. citizens during just this type of event. People are dying along the Gulf Coast -- and will continue to die over the next several days -- as food, water, medicine, and civil order are delayed due to the re-designation by the Bush Administration of the National Guard as an invading and occupying army. I, for one, am inclined to lay these needless deaths at Bush's feet as yet more casualties of his lunatic war.

There, I've said my piece.