Bush and Rumsfeld’s Destruction of the National Guard
One of the less-talked-about consequences of George Bush’s mishandling of our national defenses: the disintegration of the National Guard as an institution.
The unit knew it would soon be shipped to the front. Some soldiers responded by deserting. Others got drunk and fought. In response, officers locked the unit in its barracks, allowing the troops out only to drill, not even to smoke a cigarette, until it could be put on the transport that would take it into combat.
It sounds as if I am describing some third echelon Soviet infantry regiment in, say, 1942. In fact, I am talking about the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment, South Carolina National Guard, in September 2004.
Here’s the Washington Post story that Lind talks about, too — it’s by Thomas Ricks, an excellent reporter on national security issues.
A web feed for this site is available,
Comments
Jason
March 17, 2007
9:20 am
Get your facts straight, commy. First, the 1st/178th outperformed and outshone all other units doing the same duty overseas; second, the Washington Post story is a blatant distortion of the facts; third, you need to do your fact-checking before you use these web-based resources to vent your diarhea of the mouth; fourth, Rumsfeld and Bush weren’t in Fort Dix at the time inciting riots; fifth, the majority of the guys interviewed by the Post for that story were and are morons; sixth, according to you and your ilk Bush is a bumbling boob, but he manages to single-handedly kill every soldier in Iraq, manipulate almost 400 supposedly educated representatives, undermine the antiwar movement, kill puppies with Carl Rove, and destroy the poor.
Shut your hole and grow up,
Spc Watkins C Btry 1st/178th FA
Jason
March 17, 2007
9:20 am
Get your facts straight, commy. First, the 1st/178th outperformed and outshone all other units doing the same duty overseas; second, the Washington Post story is a blatant distortion of the facts; third, you need to do your fact-checking before you use these web-based resources to vent your diarhea of the mouth; fourth, Rumsfeld and Bush weren’t in Fort Dix at the time inciting riots; fifth, the majority of the guys interviewed by the Post for that story were and are morons; sixth, according to you and your ilk Bush is a bumbling boob, but he manages to single-handedly kill every soldier in Iraq, manipulate almost 400 supposedly educated representatives, undermine the antiwar movement, kill puppies with Carl Rove, and destroy the poor.
Shut your hole and grow up,
Spc Watkins C Btry 1st/178th FA
Scott
August 13, 2008
6:44 am
5 million miles and not one soldier lost. Where’s the Washington Post at now? 1st/178th FA is true and tried.
Sgt Canupp B Btry 1st/178th FA