Homeland Security & the National Guard

[Lowell]

I find it ironic that this administration is constantly attributing their motives for so many actions in Iraq to insuring we have Homeland Security. Iraq never attacked us and never had the capability to do so. Yet we have deployed our Reserves and National Guard to Iraq to face down a threat which never existed.

We cannot secure Iraq or her borders with the troops we have there. We have concentrated all of our military might in trying to make Iraq safe, yet we ignore our own borders. The Reserves were designed to supplement our Regular troops in the event they were needed. The National Guard was designed to handle situations that arise within the nation.

At this time in history our borders are totally unprotected and an invasion from the south is happening at an alarming rate. I don't understand why our National Guard is patrolling the streets of Baghdad instead of the border between the United States and Mexico. If the administration was serious about Homeland Security there would be no National Guard in Iraq. They would be deployed along our porous borders.

If anyone can explain why our National Guard is being used to protect and defend a foreign nation I'd like to hear why. Here in Florida we are facing the end of hurricane season. If we get hit there are so few National Guardsmen left that we will pretty much have to fend for ourselves. Texas and Arizona are facing a full scale onslaught of illegal immigrants daily, and there is no one to run interference for them. Isn't it time we quit mismanaging our National Guard and bring them home to perform the mission they were designed for?