I agreed with almost everything that Rep. Kingston had to say on Hardball, with one notable exception: I am one of those National Guardsmen that has been extended here in theater, and I can tell you honestly that it is NOT just "fresh troops" that are tasked in this surge. We have been on the ground here for about a year now, and we would dearly like to go home. The surge has extended us for about 4+ months. Add that to the 6+ month trainup (which was also time spent away from our loved ones) and it totals approximately 23 months of time spent away from our families and our civilian careers. None of our active duty counterparts have shouldered this much time away from their families including the 172nd Striker Brigade, who were extended last summer.
Now...this doesn't mean that we do not support our commander in chief. Far from it, we will charlie mike(continue mission) because that's what good soldiers do. And every last one of us here are part of a voulnteer service, so it is not like someone forced us to be here. However, I hope that our senior leaders in Washington recognize the sacrifice my national guardsmen and women have made in this fight. When all is said and done, the 1/34th BCT will have been the longest deployed unit in the Iraq War since the invasion in 2003.
Having said that, please understand: I share Rep. Kingston's feelings about a democratic majority in congress that cannot seem to generate any valid or helpful ideas of their own. They ran on a wholesale platform of criticism about how the republican controlled government has been committed to the wrong course of action in the war, but they have offered no valid or constructive options of their own. They need to stand up and be responsible to the people who voted them into office and start generating helpful and useful legislation that will outline a clear course of action in the future. Continuing to play defense and try to limit the options of the CinC is not constructive, it is just another tired reiteration of the political blame game.
Thank you for sacrifing your time away from your family for your country. It really is noble.
Clearly the active duty forces need to be increased in total size and readiness to shoulder a greater burden.
BTW, the news reported so far on the effect the surge is having is positive.