Terror Strikes Within US

This last weekend we saw terror strike the United States and take lives. It was a natural disaster in the Midwest and especially Kansas. Tornadoes and flood waters that ripped through communities and left a trail of trashed treasures, broken lives and many tears.

We are learning that terror can come from many sources, not just from the generic violent terrorist who wants to kill people for their somehow misguided views. Mother Nature herself has a way of terrorizing us and bringing us to our knees in times violent storms and its consequences. The lessons from Hurricane Katrina apparently have not sunk in to our country’s collective ability to respond to terror.

Again, battered communities look for help from our states’ National Guard units for assistance and find that the Iraq War has left us with less homeland security. This sad reality should be a wake up call for our states to demand our National Guard and our National Guard equipment be returned to their home states in defense of our homeland security.

This may be the best time to demand that our state National Guard troops and equipment come home, as Congress continues to deliberate an acceptable budget and schedule for the Iraq War. Our homeland security and our states’ defenses are being unacceptably compromised by their presence in the Middle East. Now is the time to re-establish our security and defend our home country from terrorists, foreign, domestic and natural.

What will happen if terrorists of a human kind attack again within the United States? How will our armed forces be able to respond? How will we defend ourselves when our resources have been shipped to a foreign region half way around the world? How will we recover from the violence?

How will we be able to respond if the next big earthquake hits California, or the next big flood engulfs the Midwest, or the next big hurricane inundates the coastline?

One thing’s for sure, we will again be brought to our knees. Some will be on our knees in prayer, as others will be begging for their next breath, and others for peace in the midst of chaos.

Now is the time to stand. Now is the time for us to think about our vulnerabilities at home and take action to be a nation of strength within. A nation that is able to defend its homeland against terrors foreign, domestic and natural. Message to Congress: Keep our National Guard at home.