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Iraq War Leaves Kansas Without Adequate Disaster Relief

.ljworld.com — “We’re missing about half of our trucks from the National Guard units. We are missing flatbeds. We are missing Humvees. We are missing a number of our well-trained National Guard personnel. The equipment has been sent overseas when our troops are deployed and not restored at the same level..."

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flernk 1 year 157 days ago, made popular 1 year 157 days ago

152 diggs
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CaptainNoPants, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23We can't even take care of our own people because of the recklessness of our government. Terribly sad.
- derekstech, on 10/12/2007, -14/+10"Terribly sad"
  
  Is how unknowing most Americans are about our nations decisions thats whats sad.
- flernk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16@derekstech
  
  The funny thing is, I agree with you. We were misled into a war which has severely damaged our ability to take care of our own country. Had there been more transparency in the run-up to Iraq, we wouldn't be there now and we wouldn't be facing the horrendous problems we're seeing in Kansas. Not to mention the complete system break down we have been witnessing in New Orleans.
  
  So, yes, it is sad how unknowing most Americans are about our nation's decisions. What's worse is how hard our nation's leaders try so hard to keep us in the dark.
- danarama, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6That's what happened to New Orleans.
- altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@danarama
  
  You mean is still happening to New Orleans? :)
- itsameericle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This is not right. Kansans are less safe in the face of emergency. I would worry more about this more than other issues in politics.
  
  People should read the book What's The Matter With Kansas? It's a book about how we don't vote for those politicians who truly serve our practical interests. For instance, farmers who would vote for Republicans primarily based on social issues like abortion yet get screwed by big business interests that Republicans also support. The book is aptly named because most all of Kansas voted for the people who started this war (that took away essential resources)... and yet still, they don't deserve this.
derekstech, on 10/12/2007, -25/+3pssssssssst
The Army is not disaster relief.
pssssst
Learn what impeach means also.
- flernk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19You're right, the National Guard is for disaster relief. Read the article before you comment.
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -22/+5The national guard is not just for disaster relief. It also has a war time mission. Following your argument, we can never go to war with the guard, EVER, because there might be a problem back at home. Are you guys seriously trying to tell me that the state of kansas does not have enough earthmoving and truck resources to take care of themselves? This is a FARMING state for gods sake. Why is the governor trying to blame the federal governement if she can't round up enough equipment to do the job in the state with a huge amount of such equipment????
  
  Democratic governors can't seem to be able to handle things very well.
- flernk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20@sonofdy1
  "Are you guys seriously trying to tell me that the state of kansas does not have enough earthmoving and truck resources to take care of themselves..."
  
  Wow. Blaming the victims. Your whole argument makes me so sad. There is nothing of mercy, love, or caring of any kind in your angry rants. How did America go from "Love your neighbor" to "***** you, fend for yourself"...?
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -20/+3@FLERNK,
  
  Actualy i'm blaming the governor. Nice try at slander though. Its not my fault that the governor of a farming state somehow can't find enough backhoes and trucks to carry them dispite them being there in vast numbers. This is another example of a failing democrat trying to blame someone else for thier failures. Any democrat condeming angry rants is a hypocrite of the first degree. And yes I am sick of it. It is like Nagin blaming the feds for not providing buses when he had hundreds sitting nearby.
- flernk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24@sonofdy1
  
  I'm not condemning angry ranting, I'm condemning YOU. You are heartless. You exemplify everything that's wrong with the conservative movement and why Christians like me are saddened by your brand of merciless political policy. You are unable and/or unwilling to assign responsibility to anyone but your perceived enemies.
- ryanissuper, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4@sonofdy1
  "The national guard is not just for disaster relief. It also has a war time mission"
  
  It never did until this war. The National Guard has not traditionally fought in foreign wars, hence the name.
  For example: Bush got out of Vietnam by joining the National Guard.
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The national guard has always had a wartime mission. It has fought in every war since it was created.
sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -21/+4@flernk
So as a "christian" you are condemning me for condemning the governor of Kansas. Got it. I am heartless for pointing out that the DEMOCRATIC governor was the first to make cheap political points from this. Got it. So I am wrong in pointing out there is plenty of equipment already there that she seems to have ignored. Got it.

Stop trying to make something out of this that there isn't. I never attacked the victim, just the governors blatant use of the event to attack bush. Its your party who tries to blame everyone else but themselves. Who runs Kansas again? Oh that's right, ITS THE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR. So take you hate filled rant and shove it because I am not buying your hate.
- nagaisu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23“We’re missing about half of our trucks from the National Guard units,” Sebelius said. “Clearly trucks to haul this debris away would be enormously helpful. We are missing flatbeds. We are missing Humvees, which are used to get people to safety and security and to haul equipment around. We are missing a number of our well-trained National Guard personnel. The equipment that we continue to harp on that has been sent overseas when our troops are deployed and not restored at the same level could be enormously helpful.”
  
  That's the quote from the Governor in the article. Please show me where she attacks Bush, cause I'm thinking that you are seeing enemies that aren't there. She's missing equpment that is in Iraq that she could use right now. She didn't make a political statement against the war. You are just seeing everything through your conservative viewpoint.
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -20/+4It is a clear attack on bush and the war by a liberal governor who can't seem to run her own states emergency response. Sorry, but thats just the way it is. She is trying to excuse it by blaming something else. Anything else. Otherwise, why would she even mention it?
  
  I wonder. Stop looking through you hate/liberal glasses.
- altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Here is the deal. The governer can't order the citizenry, to use their equipment. Even if there was mass wave of volunteering of private equipment it would be a logistical nightmare to get it where it needed to be and to do what it needs to do. That is why we have organized units, FEMA, the National Gaurd, and the Army Corp of Engineers in place to handle such emergencies. They have plans, equipment, pre-established heirarchies, and protocals for dealing with these situations.
  
  If you listen to the governers whole speech instead reading the soundbits you'll find she isn't antagonistic. She's says very calmly that they don't have the equipment and have requested additional resources from the pentegon. The blame game is being played by the pundits on both the right and the left, not the governer herself.
- Charlesbian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3hey sonofdy1, look in the sky, its a giant hypocrisy hot air balloon with FEMA written on it. You should be riding it.
  
  I really didn't want this to turn into a liberal vs conservative argument, as this is just a straight up tragedy that we should be bonding together to overcome. But when you act like Bush is blameless when it comes to terms to disaster relief, im just gonna LOL at you all day long.
SPECOPS, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2In response to Nagalsu above.. (reply comments copied from site, since Nagalsu's comments were as well):
BS Kathy! The Force in Kansas is 80%! Additionally, Greensburg is in FARM COUNTRY! There are thousands of flatbed trucks and dumptrucks in that area, they are usually called GRAIN TRUCKS!!! She, as Governor can requsition or seize those trucks needed and they will be there quicker as the next county over. Right before grain harvest, and most won't be harvesting anyway with so much farmground torn up.

Trying to tie this to IRAQ was STUPID! OK, she was emotionally overwhelmed, but that is no reason to “politicize” this terrible event for “Democratic Party Points”!
- TheGrunt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7You've clearly never seen a grain truck, they couldn't carry debris without a decent amount of modification.
- tehbishop, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6@SPECOPS: I'm also thinking you don't know how the ICS works for a state level disaster. That's what I do and I can tell you that it's not as 'clear cut' as you would hope it might be. NIMS looks good on paper, but in the reality of a problem things that were expected tend to not happen. The one thing that a Governor can most easily control - the State National Guard - would have helped out greatly here and would negate the need to look at second or third string options for this. Just take the hit man, they're in Iraq not Kansas ...
JCowdy, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3Dugg as Inaccurate:

20% of the troops are gone
20% of the Humvee's are gone
50% of the trucks are gone
110 troops are in the city at this time

Sources:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Kansas_tornado_disaster_highlights_lack_of_0507.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/07/tornado.resources.reut/
- pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6dugg as inaccurate?
- ryanissuper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Why would you digg as inaccurate while at the same time pointing out that the posted article is accurate?
  Seems kinda dumb.
chase001, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Hey it was OK when Louisiana's National Guard and equipment was over there and it affected a bunch of poor black people. Now let the poor white people eat cake. (sarcasm)
diddye, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Wow, am I surprised this is on Digg. People here NEVER post anything anti-war 1 sec after it is published.
- Leviathan777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, keep hiding behind the digg demographics.
  
  Your problem is not with Digg, but with the overwhelming majority of Americans who are sick of this incompetent *****. Believe it or not, the government does get stuff right sometimes. If you disagree, then please get the ***** off the Internet (created on the govt's dime) and go back to AOL where you belong.
  
  Sure, we all like to bitch about waiting in line at the DMV. But we expect better.
froggy57, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Every congressman and every senator and every school child knows that the two billion a week we are pissing off in Iraq is needed here in America.
Every one can see that the hurrican victims, katrina and now the latest one, has victims that need help.
So why isn't every congressman and every senator doing something about it? why don't every one of them get up in the morning and say, "This is *****.. time to do something to end this madness"?
Everyone knows that the gov could fix the situation in the first thirty minutes of their work day if they really wanted to,
It is becoming increasingly apparent that out congressmen and our senators don't really give a ***** about anything except their rice bowl. And of course the school children can't do anything.
Perhaps the saddest thing, is that our children are taking this all in and learning a lesson from it. A lesson of cynacism.
Shame on you gov.
Eth4n, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Governor Sebelius has done great things for the state of Kansas. It's obvious she really cares and does her best to get as much done for the people of the state.

The sad thing is that since we're a red state no one even repeated this part of her speech.
Armor1901, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3You know, sonofdy1 DOES make a valid point. The primary industry in the state of KS would lead you to think that even without the National Guard, there probably is a lot of equipment that can be used for relief. No, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be helped, I'm just saying you can't really overlook an obvious fact here.
To say that the relief is being stalled because their equipment is in Iraq seems like a cheap shot at Bush. Obviously she never mentioned Bush, but of course everyone knows damn good and well Iraq war = Bush's fault, so if A=B=C then A=C. Go ahead and digg me down, but sonofdy1 isn't a piece of ***** for mentioning a couple things simply worth mentioning. If they merit discussion, then discuss, but don't silence because you don't want his viewpoint. I, for one, mostly agree with him.
- altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2It's not his point ( which is wrong ), it is his attitude.
  
  Once again.... organizing the populus takes far more time and energy than calling upon ready existing resources. You can ask people to donate their trucks, but what about all the paperwork? What happens with Joe Farmer who was going to go into bankruptcy decides after this is all over that the state of Kansas ruined his truck and sues for damages? It's a very complicated legal mess to start requisitioning private property. Usually entails declaring martial law.
- Eth4n, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The National Guard is supposed to be ready to immediately help in a disaster. A bunch of random farm equipment isn't organized and trained for something like that... sure they can help eventually but the amount of time to mobilize would be about as long as sending the national guard from alaska.
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Somebody gets it. It doesn't help that the stuff is in iraq, but damn, a good governor should be able to work arround it.
froggy57, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I want so badly to be proud of my country. I so want to be proud of my elected officials. What a wonderful thing it would be to turn on the news tomorrow morning, and see the members of congress and the senate standing firm together and announcing to the nation that, 'Our boys are coming home this week. We've spent a trillion $ and 3000 lives on you, Iraq. Now, you're on your own. If you can't stop slaughtering each other, too bad. We're going to disperse our troops in hurricane areas to help Americans for a change. And the two billion a week wil go toward developing alternative fuels.''
There would be celebrations across America. I would march in that parade. How about you?
- altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1As much as I argued against this war from the day Bush started talking about it. As much as I hate that lives both Iraqi and American are being wasted. As much as I wish Bush would be brought up for War Crimes. I cannot even begin to think that we should be bringing our troops home. We are morally obligated to fix what we broke and the consequences of failing to do so are very likely war between Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, the genocide of the Kurds, and the most screwed up world economy since WW2. We need to do what the Iraq Study Group recommended and bring all parties with a vested interest to the table, namely Syria, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia get them invested in a successful Iraq, and then we can start moving our troops out. The only thing stupider than what Bush is doing is just pulling out.
  
  FYI I did digg you up.
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Would you sign up to go to the war that would follow?
- SpaceMonkeyZero, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2No. He only wants to march. He doesn't actually want to DO anything. Just march and make it look like he's doing something.
- Leviathan777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@sonofdy1
  
  Sign up for the war we have now or shut the ***** up.
Armor1901, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4QUOTE:
Once again.... organizing the populus takes far more time and energy than calling upon ready existing resources. You can ask people to donate their trucks, but what about all the paperwork? What happens with Joe Farmer who was going to go into bankruptcy decides after this is all over that the state of Kansas ruined his truck and sues for damages? It's a very complicated legal mess to start requisitioning private property. Usually entails declaring martial law.

When the English needed to get their people the hell across the English channel WW2 era, did they moan and bitch and whine and complain about how their fishing trawler isn't supposed to carry people or whatever or did they just DO IT?
Don't ***** give me this ***** about how the people can't do it for whatever reason. In a crisis, people pull together, unless you're American, in which case lately you just blame others and point fingers and demand aid.
Now I understand it's a complicated matter to sort things out when you get private aid from citizens, but if those people need aid THAT BADLY then I don't see what the huge issue is. If it NEEDS to get done, then instead of pointing fingers, direct your people to get it done.
- flernk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"moan and bitch and whine and complain"
  
  The fact that you guys continue to blame the victims is exactly why so many people are sick of the conservative movement. The fact that you don't know that you're blaming the victims is exactly why the conservative movement has failed.
- sonofdy1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@flernk:
  
  Nobody here has blamed the victims, just the weak governor who can seem to get herself together. Why do you lie so much?
- Leviathan777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@sonofdy1
  
  All governors have been complaining about the lack of Nat G equipment due to Iraq war strains. The National Guard exists precisely to serve security needs that states cannot meet on their own.
  
  But by all means keep digging that hole you're in.
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Iraq War Leaves Kansas Without Adequate Disaster Relief

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