Contact your governor about Bush's escalation!

[Neecy]

This is a new tactic in the war against Bush's insane escalation, but it might prove to be fruitful.

It appears that Bush is going to extend National Guard tours against current Pentagon policy in order to give him his 20,000 new troops in Iraq. Here's a snippet from the LA Times from yesterday:

The nation's top military officials, expecting President Bush to order an increase in the size of the force in Iraq, have concluded that such a buildup would require them to reverse Pentagon policy and send the Army's National Guard and Reserve units on lengthy second tours in Iraq, Defense Department officials said Monday.

Under Pentagon policy, Guard and Reserve units have been limited to 24 months of mobilization for the Iraq war. That means most Reserve units that already have been sent to Iraq are ineligible to return. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff have concluded that a significant troop buildup would require the Pentagon to send Guard and Reserve units for additional yearlong tours.

Such an order probably would be controversial among the nation's governors — who share authority over the Guard — and could heighten concerns in Congress over the war and Bush's plans for a troop increase. In addition, National Guard leaders were skeptical of calls for additional combat tours, which they fear could hurt recruiting and retention.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-troops9jan09,0,5874521.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The New York Times today seems to indicate that Bush is going extend the Guard - again, against the advice of the generals whom he claims to listen to!

President Bush’s plan to increase troop levels in Iraq is expected to require the Army eventually to send as many as six National Guard combat brigades to Iraq, beginning in 2008.

The increased demand on the National Guard in coming years is a likely byproduct of Mr. Bush’s decision, expected to be announced in a speech Wednesday night, to send five active-duty combat brigades, or about 20,000 troops, to Iraq, starting at the end of this month, according to current and former officials.

Two of those brigades are likely to be in place in Iraq by mid-February, with the rest flowing in one a month until May, according to a military official with access to a recent version of the plan. The Bush blueprint also envisions sending two additional Marine battalions to Anbar Province, as well as delaying the departure of 2,200 additional Marines now in the province.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10military.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

We need to be putting maximum pressure on our governors to RESIST this mishandling of OUR National Guard units - who are already short of equipment and who did NOT sign up for this endless war! If Congress won't do anything, let's make our governors feel the heat - and apparently, they DO have a say on how their state Guard units are used.

[donco]

1. will try but....

My Governors name is Blount.x(

[Avalux]

2. Thanks for the info.

I will make my opinion known, but Perry (TX) will do whatever Bush wants, unfortunately. x(