The governors and the Guard, or, another brilliant idea from Rummy

Jules Witcover is up there with Gene Lyons on my list of Most Under-Appreciated Columnists. In his latest (Bush, the governors and the National Guard Tribune Media Services 03/01/06), he writes about the state governors confronting Bush over Rummy's plans to reduce the number of National Guard positions and also what Lyons calls the "spectacular folly of the Dubai Ports World deal". Witcover focuses on their criticisms of the Guard cutback:

The basic notion of Rumsfeld's springing a revamping of the Guard in the middle of a war, and when pressures at home have been so great on the Guard in light of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, jolted the governors.

One leading voice among them, Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, sounded disinclined to be satisfied with the "trust me" posture that Bush adopted earlier in dealing, for example, with the recovery and reconstruction of New Orleans, and more recently in the ports deal.

"I don't think there's any intent on the part of the administration to change their approach to this," Vilsack said, "and it raises concerns among governors because there's no assurance that the money will be there" if recruitment exceeds 333,000 enlistees.

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