One of the loudest screeds from the Left these days is that because so many troops are "preoccupied" in Iraq, there are not enough soldiers to help its own citizens in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. James S. Robbins proves this charge false in his NRO article from Friday.

Do you know what percentage of active duty soldiers, reserves and national guardsman are deployed in Iraq?

10.2%. Yes, you heard that right.

So where are the rest? 751,000 (74.2 percent) are in the U.S. About half are active duty, and half Guard and Reserve. The Guard is the real issue of course — the Left wants you to believe that the country has been denuded of its citizen soldiers, and that Louisiana has suffered inordinately because Guardsmen and women who would have been available to be mobilized by the state to stop looting and aid in reconstruction are instead risking their lives in Iraq.

Not hardly. According to Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, 75 percent of the Army and Air National Guard are available nationwide. In addition, the federal government has agreed since the conflict in Iraq started not to mobilize more than 50 percent of Guard assets in any given state, in order to leave sufficient resources for governors to respond to emergencies.

Hat Tip to OpinionJournal.com's Best of the Web (3rd item down)

Posted by: Gary at 10:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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