Uncle Sam needs your help again

60 Minutes did a piece tonight on the Iowa National Guard tonight:

The soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 133rd Infantry left their loved ones with high hopes. Most had never seen combat before and some would never see Iowa again.

Comprising a large number of relatives: fathers and sons, brothers, and more, the 1st battalion was ready for action in 2005, when on soldier/father said this:

"Well, I believe that I'd rather be in their country keeping them turned down or from coming to America. What they did on 9/11 is a travesty," Mike Ites says.

"You draw a line from 9/11 through Iraq to the present day?" Pelley asks.

"I do," he replies.

For the love of God! What is wrong with people in this country?

What is wrong with a press & media that doesn't tell the truth about this false connection?

What is wrong with politicians, starting with GWBush, who send these folks to die?

Their lives are, and were, being wasted. There, I've said it. Wasted. Sorry people, that your loved ones died. I mean, I'm really sorry. I didn't want them to go over there.

But many of you did. And many, like this deluded man, are still over there now, and here's what he says now:

I believe that we're supposed to be over here. Progress is being made," he says. "If you go back to 9/11 and what the people did there and when the president asked 'Do you want me to after these people?,' the whole United States stood up and said in unison and said 'Yes, we do.' He says, 'This is gonna be long and drawn out. Are you really sure you’re gonna stand with me?' And they said, 'Yes, we will.' Well, now there are some that aren’t because the American people are a 'gimme' people and 'give it to me now.'"

Sad. Even his son, sitting beside him, gets it:

I just feel that we will be here a long time. And it's going to take a lot more time than what people think back home to fix what's going on over here. From what I see, they don't want us here.

The father above is 49 years old. Tell me, please, how an overweight 49 year old man is an acceptable recruit. Never mind that The National Guard is not supposed to be used for this type of fighting:

From Wikipedia:

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution contains a series of "militia clauses", vesting distinct authority and responsibilities in the federal government and the state governments.

1) Article I, Section 8; Clause 15

The Congress shall have Power ... To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.

2) Article I, Section 8; Clause 16

The Congress shall have Power ... To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

3) Article I, Section 8; Clause 12

"The Congress shall have Power ... To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years"

4) Article I, Section 10; Clause 3

"No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."

5) Article IV, Section 4

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

6) Article II, Section 2

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

But now we have this:

Prior to the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, the National Guard's general policy regarding mobilization was that Guardsmen would be required to serve no more than one year cumulative on active duty (with no more than six months overseas) for each five years of regular drill. Due to strains placed on active duty units following the attacks, the possible mobilization time was increased to 18 months (with no more than one year overseas). Additional strains placed on military units as a result of the invasion of Iraq further increased the amount of time a Guardsman could be mobilized to 24 months. Current Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for more than 24 months (cumulative) in one six year enlistment period (this policy is due to change 1 August 2007, the new policy states that soldiers will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months (individual states have differing policies).

Swell. We have an undereducated populace. We have a President so hell-bent on conquering whatever demon possesses his tiny mind that he sends dentists, postal workers, grandfathers, off to fight and die with no end in sight. And we still have people who believe in this idiot.


Sorry folks, he's wasting your lives.