The New York Times cannot help itself. Fearing that complaints regarding the causes of the Katrina aftremath and the difficulties with survivor efforts might lead people to temporarily forget about Iraq, the Times editorial board stretches by yoking problems in Iraq to the aftermath of Katrina.

 Americans who had been humbled by failures in Iraq saw that the authorities could not quickly cope with a natural disaster at home....
 
Watching helplessly from afar, many citizens wondered whether rescue operations were hampered because almost one—third of the men and women of the Louisiana National Guard, and an even higher percentage of the Mississippi National Guard, were 7,000 miles away, fighting in Iraq....
 
Things would have been even worse if a comparable domestic disaster had struck last year, when an even greater percentage of National Guard units were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some states had more than two—thirds of their Guard forces overseas. After several governors protested, the Pentagon agreed to adjust its force rotations so no state would be stripped of more than half of its guardsmen at any one time. That promise has been kept so far. But honoring it in the months ahead will be extremely difficult with active—duty forces so badly overstretched in Iraq, and prospects for any significant early withdrawals looking bleak....

One lasting lesson that has to be drawn from the Gulf Coast's misery is that from now on, the National Guard must be treated as America's most essential homeland security force, not as some kind of military piggy bank for the Pentagon to raid for long—term overseas missions....

Ed Lasky   9 02 05