With our Reserve and Guard units playing increasingly important roles in the war on terror and in Iraq, it is unacceptable to make them jump through any unnecessary hurdles.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Without the Guard and Reserve, our active duty troops could hardly deploy.
But if you're going to go out on a military unit, you've got to allow yourself to be under the control of the commander because you really could put the troops in danger.
Before they deploy, they train for the specific operations, but there is a danger that the Army is not retaining the core of its full capabilities.
There are a lot of self-imposed restrictions by people who somehow believe they have to fall in with a certain military cant. There was always a sense that we had to put things into words that would touch our troops' hearts, not just their heads.
That policy was abandoned very quickly, and the military police were tagged with the responsibility of conducting training, which they did. We were not equipped or set up with personnel to recruit new Iraqi guards.
Sometimes you have to subordinate strategic considerations to tactical needs.
Guard units in the U.S. are suffering severe equipment shortages which will affect their ability to respond to emergencies in their home States, such as Katrina.
When they return home from serving our country, our National Guard and Reserve members shouldn't have to be confronted with red tape in order to access the benefits they've earned fighting for our country.
So we are fulfilling our task in preventing serious armament stocks in Iraq within our possibilities.
With Guard and Reserve units, you can end up with a lot of people from one part of the country dying in one day, and that gets people's attention.
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