NY National Guard called up to Afghanistan

Thanks to the Albany Project for bringing this to our attention. Via the Democrat and Chronicle;

The largest single deployment of the New York Army National Guard since 2003 will send more than 1,700 soldiers to Afghanistan, according to an announcement Tuesday from the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

About 200 members of the 27th Brigade, headquartered in Syracuse but with members across upstate New York, will deploy as early as September for Operation Enduring Freedom. The rest will leave in the following six months to relieve the South Carolina Army National Guard's 218th Brigade.

Many thanks to our National Guard members for this sacrifice and work they will be doing in Afghanistan. This follows on the heels of their hard work here at home in NY State;

The announcement comes after a busy year at home for the Guard. Members were activated during last summer's floods in the Southern Tier, a winter storm that damaged scores of trees in Buffalo and powerful winter storms in the Hudson Valley and Oswego County.

LTE: 9/11 planners still at large, and not in Iraq

In a recent 'Letter to the Editor' (LTE) in the SI Advance a writer comments on various aspects of the war in Iraq and criticizes our government for their decisions, most notably that we are side tracked with a war in Iraq while Osama bin Laden still has not been caught;

The United States attacked a sovereign nation that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. It was up to the people of Iraq to overthrow that dictatorial regime -- not us. The people who planned and implemented the 9/11 attack are still at large.

You can read the full letter here. Rep. Fossella here is an easy cover to save face and support removing our troops from Iraq. Iraq did not attack New York City. Iraq did not have the capability. You were nearsighted in backing the change of strategy to attack Iraq but we can over look that for now with a responsible plan that brings our troops out of Iraq and let's them solve their civil war and repositions the needed troops and supplies to Afghanistan.

The nations we are building want us to leave

So what happens when the democracies we are building in nations like Afghanistan and Iraq democratically vote and ask us to leave? Via Yahoo News;

The senate, the upper house of the Afghan parliament, also urged Western troops in the U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces to halt the hunt for Taliban fighters and other militants.

The motion comes at a time of rising public discontent with the government of President Hamid Karzai over civilian casualties at the hands of Western troops, corruption and the failure to turn billions of dollars in aid into better livelihoods.

The senate motion calling for "direct negotiations with the concerned Afghan sides in the country" was passed by an overwhelming majority and now goes to Karzai, who has in the past failed in efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table

Surely Rep. Vito Fossella already has a press release and a resolution ready condemning Afghanistan for not supporting American troops.