President Bush has left Kansas unprepared to respond

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has reminded us that President Bush’s disastrous misadventure in Iraq has purposely left states unprepared and unable to respond adequately to natural disasters that we should expect.

We knew it would happen.  Every region of the country is subject to devastating acts of nature.  From earthquakes on the West Coast to hurricanes in the East, we all live in an area of the country that can suffer a Katrina size disaster.  Natural disasters cannot be prevented but we can be prepared.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has reminded us that President Bush’s disastrous misadventure in Iraq has purposely left states unprepared and unable to respond adequately to natural disasters that we should expect. "We’re missing about half of our trucks from the National Guard units," Sebelius said. "Clearly trucks to haul this debris away would be enormously helpful. We are missing flatbeds. We are missing Humvees, which are used to get people to safety and security and to haul equipment around. We are missing a number of our well-trained National Guard personnel. The equipment that we continue to harp on that has been sent overseas when our troops are deployed and not restored at the same level could be enormously helpful."

This is a repeat of ealrier warnings from Governors of both parties.

Even the strongest supporter of the President must understand that our real responsibility is to protect our own.  We have not only depleted our ability to respond to a human enemy but we are now unprepared to care for those devastated by the recent tornado in Greensburg, Kansas.