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National Guard Deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq Unprecedented and Alarming
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by Kathlyn Stone, W A M M
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| Opponents believe the National Guard deployments prolong wars and occupation, deepen the country’s debt, cause hardship to soldiers, and leave communities vulnerable to natural disasters. |
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Photo provided by author. |
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National Guard troops are deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan in historic numbers. Will states finally demand an end to the costly practice of using citizen-soldiers to fight overseas wars?
As the song goes, “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” The search for information about the current mass deployments of National Guard troops to the Middle East turned up some surprises.
It’s evident that, as he promised voters, the new president has told the Pentagon to begin troop withdrawal from Iraq. However, many states are sending National Guard units off to Kuwait and Iraq between now and May. According to military officials, Guard units will be escorting troops and equipment out of Iraq. Is that the only reason for sending large numbers of Guards abroad?
Any enthusiasm that the U.S. is entering a new era of less dependence on “citizen soldiers” to fight wars overseas needs to be tempered by the fact that the drawdown in Iraq is congruent with plans for a tremendous military buildup in Afghanistan.
In early 2009, one state after another has announced new National Guard overseas deployments: Minnesota, Wyoming, Vermont, Idaho, Oregon, Michigan, Mississippi, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Montana, and others. And there emerges a pattern in the reports.
“It is the largest ever Wyoming National Guard deployment and will affect nearly 1,000 families and most Wyoming communities.” – Casper Star Tribune, Feb. 4
“The Vermont National Guard is gearing up for its largest deployment since World War II, according to lawmakers.” – Bennington Banner, Feb. 5
“Oregon’s National Guard is in the process of mobilizing for its largest deployment of citizen soldiers since World War II.” – Oregon Public Broadcasting, Feb. 7
”It’s the largest aviation deployment in state Army National Guard history, spokesman 1st Lt. Jay Ostrich said Tuesday.” – The Patriot News, Jan. 28
“This is the largest operational deployment of Wisconsin Guard forces since World War II.” – Wisconsin National Guard web site, Feb. 2
These historic-scale deployments of National Guard aren’t just for withdrawal from Iraq. Many are heading to Afghanistan. About 2,000 Idaho Army National Guard troops are tentatively scheduled to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan next year, including about 150 soldiers stationed in the Lewiston area.
Vermont Rep. Peter Welch, who recently visited Afghanistan, said “as many as 1,800 Vermont National Guard soldiers will deploy in November or December to help train Afghan troops and police.” A Vermont state representative, Bill Botzow, said the call-up of 1,100 Vermont troops “would be the second largest call-up of Vermont troops ever.”
Between 800 and 900 members of Georgia’s National Guard 48th Infantry brigade will depart as early as May for a 10-month deployment to Afghanistan. The Georgia-based guards are receiving cultural training at “makeshift villages and doing a little bit of cultural-type training that may be a little different than preparing for deployment to Iraq,” said Command Sgt. Major Wesley Dover, who leads one of the regiments.
If you’re wondering “Déjà vu?,” you’re not alone. Do they have a clear mission? Will we be prepared for disaster relief at home? Opponents believe the National Guard deployments prolong wars and occupation, deepen the country’s debt, cause hardship to soldiers, and leave communities vulnerable to natural disasters.
Movements are underfoot in many states (including Alaska, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.) to push for legislation that will bring the National Guard home from the Middle East.
In approving military action against Iraq in 2002, the U.S. Congress included the deployment of National Guard units to Iraq. The legislation stated that the mission was to remove Saddam Hussein from power and implement United Nations resolutions regarding illegal weapons.
Those missions were fulfilled years ago. “At this point, there is no legal basis for the continued use of the Vermont National Guard in Iraq,” said Vermont state representative Michael Fisher, who has introduced a bill denying further deployments of Vermont National Guard units to Iraq.
On January 26, peace, labor, and veterans groups in Salem, Oregon, petitioned the state legislature to give Gov. Ted Kulongoski the authority to withhold Oregon Army National Guard soldiers from returning to Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 7,000 people signed the petition, including state representative Carolyn Tomei and U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader. The coalition has also drafted a bill but needs a legislative sponsor.
Dan Mayhew, parent of a son who is returning to Iraq, said he supported the petition. “I’m not an activist, but when they announced they were deploying yet again, and that soldiers with PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome) issues would be swept along, I thought I can’t keep quiet anymore.”
On February 5, Iraq Veterans Against the War and other antiwar activists called on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to stop future deployment of Minnesota National Guard troops to Iraq and bring the Minnesota National Guard troops currently in Iraq home “without delay.” States have been left shorthanded in national emergencies. When thousands of Kentuckians lost power for a week following the devastating ice storm that hit at the end of January, some 4,600 members of the Kentucky National Guard were deployed. Guards rescued two teenagers from icy waters, saved an elderly couple from carbon monoxide poisoning during a door-to-door check on residents, and worked for weeks removing fallen trees from roads and delivering food and other essential supplies to tens of thousands of residents who were left without electricity following the winter storms.
Some Oregonians are today left wondering if their state would be able to respond as effectively should a natural disaster occur in their mountainous region. The Oregon National Guard’s entire fleet of 12 Black Hawk medevac helicopters and 135 pilots, crew chiefs, maintenance and support staff are training in Oklahoma before heading to Iraq for a 400-day deployment. It leaves the mountainous state with only four pilots and one borrowed helicopter to cover the state’s emergency Guard calls, according to a report in the Oregonian.
“I do not know who will fill the void,” said mountain rescuer Michael Leming. “Even in perfect conditions it can take hours and hours to get people off the mountain. The reality is, people are going to get seriously hurt, and some are not going to make it.”
Not only have states been left shorthanded on the home front in terms of manpower during national emergencies—underscored by the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina—but also during California wildfires and mudslides, and hurricanes and floods in other regions around the country. States have also lost many billions of dollars in equipment through federal appropriation for overseas military operations.
“The governors looked to the National Guard for support in their domestic missions . . . and in some cases they were handicapped because they didn’t have the equipment necessary to respond,” admitted Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, special assistant to the director of the Army National Guard, at a recent meeting. Since 2003, almost $24 billion of equipment has been appropriated for the Army Guard, with another $5 billion expected this year, said Carpenter.
Vice President Joe Biden said January 26 that as U.S. forces become more engaged in Afghanistan, there likely will be a rise in American casualties. Biden said Afghanistan has deteriorated due to a failure to provide sufficient economic, political, and military resources, as well as a lack of coherent policy among allies involved there. The Taliban are in “effective control” of significant parts of the country, he added.
Biden believes more troops are necessary in Afghanistan, where an estimated 25,000 additional U.S. forces are expected to deploy over the next 12 to 18 months, according to defense officials. Some 34,000 U.S. service members currently are there.
“It’s going to require . . . some additional military forces. There are going to be additional efforts to train their police and to train their Afghan army,” he said. “And all of that means we’re going to be engaging the enemy more.”
And the war within ourselves will increase. No one, least of all those in combat, is immune from the horrors of war. Three and four nearly back-to-back deployments into combat have become commonplace for National Guard troops.
“When these guys come home they are totally changed,” said the parent* of a Minnesota National Guard member whose son has served two tours in Iraq. (*The parent wished to withhold her name. She received anonymous threats after speaking out previously, and her son was warned by his superiors to tell his mother to stay silent.)
“The same young guys are being deployed over and over—4 and 5 times. It’s destroying them and their families. For the first year and a half when they come home they’re numbed out. After a year they start to feel the horrible things. There’s a flood of emotions that start coming through. Reintegration is an unbelievable hell. It’s like being in the eye of a hurricane.”
Some of them don’t make it through the storm. The Salt Lake Tribune reported February 5 that suicides by Utah Guards outnumber those who died in combat. “Since 2005, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the lives of two soldiers from the Utah National Guard. Suicide has claimed 10.”
As of January 2008, National Guards represented 7 percent of the military in Iraq. In Afghanistan, Guard troops represent double that amount—15 percent of the military serving in that country, according to a Congressional Research Report presented to Congress in January.
With the massive deployments now underway, the percentage of National Guards fighting in Afghanistan could soon reach or exceed 25 percent of the total military force.
Deploying National Guards for the specific purpose of safely moving personnel and equipment out of Iraq makes some sense. Setting up a new open-ended quagmire without clear goals and potentially unintended consequences in Afghanistan does not. |
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Cost of War
Iraqis are reminded everyday that the war is not over by the black-clad war widows threading their way through Baghdad traffic begging alms. There are an estimated 740,000 war widows in Iraq, a number that lends credence to the million plus body count estimates. Most receive no aid—one U.S. reporter found widows living in a gas station restroom. With oil prices—Iraq’s only export—in steep decline, the Maliki government claims there is no money left for the social budget. Indeed, the 4,000,000 Iraqis driven from their homes into exile are now viewed as a security risk should they be forced by their host countries to return.
—John Ross, author,
www.johnross-rebeljournalist.com
Ten Reasons to End the Occupation of Afghanistan
1. U.S. and NATO occupation creates civilian casualties, angering Afghans.
2. Military occupation has hampered humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts.
3. Afghan women continue to face violence and oppression under the occupation.
4. U.S. policy has empowered warlords, drug lords and the Taliban.
5. The occupation contributes to violence and destabilization for ordinary Afghans, including refugees.
6. NATO allies and military leaders are questioning the occupation.
7. U.S. troop casualties in Afghanistan are on the rise.
8. Afghans are calling for a negotiated end to the war.
9. Military escalation will only increase the violence, and potentially lead to a wider war involving nuclear-armed
Pakistan.
10. Military occupation of Afghanistan does not curb terrorism.
—VotersForPeace.US
www.peacefultomorrows.org/downloads/Afghanistanprimerjan09final.pdf.
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© 2009 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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