Kansas Governor Was "Misheard"

One of the problems with breathlessly reporting on news articles is the tendency to buy spin and get stories wrong.

Fired Up Missouri had this happen to them yesterday, but I don' t know if they know it yet.  The report was on the recent Kansas tornadoes that wreaked havoc, and the clean-up by the state that was reportedly hampered by Iraq war deployments of the National Guard.

First, I wouldn't use an Australian newspaper to report news from a neighboring state, but FiredUp saw fit to write a paragraph and link a report that didn't back up their assertions.

Yet across the border in Kansas, the Governor has been forced to hire contractor to assist with the Greenburg tornado disaster because much of the manpower and equipment of the Kansas National Guard is... in Iraq.

Is the Kansas governor short on manpower from the National Guard?  No, she's not.

Currently, the Kansas National Guard has 88 percent of its forces available, 60 percent of its Army Guard dual-use equipment on hand, and more than 85 percent of its Air Guard equipment on hand, said Randal Noller, public affairs officer for the National Guard Bureau.

Has Sebelius asked for assistance from neighboring states?  No, she has not.

Kansas has more than 400,000 Guardsmen available to it, he pointed out. However, Kansas has not yet requested assistance from other states.

That didn't stop Sebelius from going on the Today Show to complain about it.   So what's the real story?

 

Did Sebelius say the Iraq war was hampering current relief efforts?  maybe, but she is now saying that the current disaster relief operation is fine, but if more came, they would be hard-pressed to deal with it.

Mike Henricks of the KC Star (which, according to FiredUp, covers for Republicans), brushes all of these facts aside and says that political pressure from the Bush Administration forced Selebius to back down from her previous statements.

But Sebelius did bring up the equipment shortage. As a result, she’s taking hits from the White House and its defenders, just as the Democratic governor of Louisiana did when she suggested the feds were likewise ill-prepared for Hurricane Katrina.

Long Story short?  A Democratic governor tried to use the Iraq War to generate some press coverage over a disaster, and when caught at it, pretended she was misunderstood.  And FiredUp Missouri and Mike Hendricks are doing their best to pretend that "Fake, but Accurate" news continues to get airplay.

 

Comments

[KC Blue Bloggers]

Wow serious spin. So you are saying two things- a) that the Governor didn't request anything and also b)that the levels of required equipment are not low? I'd say you are wrong:

a)On repeated occasions, Sebelius made numerous requests and had no response:

– Dec. 30, 2005: Sebelius writes to Rumsfeld requesting new equipment. “The Guard was critical to responding to recent blizzards and floods in Kansas, yet its ability to respond to similar situations is being diminished by a lack of equipment,” wrote Sebelius. Included with her letter was a list of equipment Kansas had lost to the Iraq war. [Kansas City Star, 1/21/06; Topeka Capital-Journal, 6/29/06]

– Jan. 23, 2006: Sebelius personally urges Bush to increase National Guard funding. In an one-hour motorcade ride in Kansas with Bush, Sebelius expressed concern about “a reduction of National Guard troop strength in its next budget.” Bush assured her he was “dealing” with the shortages. [Topeka Capital-Journal, 1/24/06; Kansas City Star, 3/11/06]

– June 28, 2006: Sebelius sends Army Secretary list of equipment lost in war. In a meeting with Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, Sebelius told Harvey that the state had lost about $140 million in National Guard equipment to the Iraq war. Her office then sent him a list of the lost equipment. [Topeka Capital-Journal, 6/29/06]

– Sept. 2006: Sebelius lobbies for replacement of National Guard equipment sent to Iraq. “Kansas’ congressional delegation, Sebelius and governors from around the country have been lobbying the Pentagon for increased funding to replace National Guard equipment that has been left in Iraq or damaged beyond repair after repeated use in war.” [AP, 9/5/06]

– Feb. 27, 2007: Sebelius pushes White House and Congress for more funding. “Now the Guard needs Washington’s help,” Sebelius said in press conference on Capitol Hill. “The President and Congress need to step up to the plate and give our Guard members the support they deserve.” [Press Release, 2/27/07]

B) You are claiming that Kansas was not short on equipment. So then you are saying that the State of Kansas Adjunct General is wrong when he stated in the press conference that quote:

"the Kansas National Guard was equipped at only about 40 percent of its required levels, down from the 60 percent that it had at the start of the war."

You shouldn't ty to spin a serious and tragic event for political gain.

[Jim Durbin]

Selebius has a good record of asking for more equipment for the National Guard, and that's a great thing for a governor to do.

However, her original statement was reported in the press as her complaining that the disaster cleanup was hampered because of equipment and manpower missing from the Iraq War.

That simply was not true - which is why she backed down from those statements on Tuesday. Is there a shortage of equipment in the National Guard? Yes. But there's always a shortage because the Guard gets the least attention in military procurement.

Was the Kansas disaster relief affected by the loss of equipment? Again, no. The clarifying statement, and thus the reason for my title, was that if another disaster happened, they would be hard-pressed to respond to both.

Did she ask for troops or equipment from other states, as she is able to do? She made the claim instead that the other states were short too, and wouldn't be able to help.

In short, the politicizing came from the Kansas Governor, who wanted to make a point about Iraq so she could be seen as a viable national candidate for the VP slot.

If the concern is truly over the equipment levels, perhaps the Democrats could quit playing games with the war supplemental and fund the troops.

And if they are successful in cutting off funds for the war, can we expect that the Kansas Governor will go back on the morning shows to suggest that Congress immediately plow that money back into purchasing new equipment for Guard units for disaster relief?

Inventories and required levels of equipment are also red herrings - the real question is does the Kansas Guard have the ability to react to a disaster currently, and the ability to reach out to other states should they need more?

That answer is yes.