The Elephant in the Middle of the Newsroom

So has anyone else noticed the two most glaringly absent words from the California wildfire news stories? Those two words would be the National Guard. Much of the needed equipment and manpower are in Iraq of course leaving California hamstrung and one very ticked off Fire Chief of Orange County.


From the Army Times:

Schwarzenegger directs Guard to battle fires

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 6:25:09 EDT

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has directed 1,500 California National Guard troops to be available to support efforts to fight at least 14 wildfires in the southern part of the state, according to a news release from the National Guard Bureau.

The troops include 200 Guard members who were patrolling the California-Mexico border as part of Operation Jump Start, a mission to help the Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol keep illegal immigrants from entering the U.S.

More than 200 troops were sent to help evacuate residents in San Diego. About 100 were sent to Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers, and 100 others were sent to Del Mar Fairgrounds.

The governor also requested that four California Guard helicopters be available to help firefighting efforts. As of Monday night, most of the troops remained on standby, and they will deploy at the direction of the governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Of course the Governator says that everything's ok. And considering the size of these wildfires, that's quite an impressive number of National Guard troops - isn't it? I've watched both CBS and ABC national newscasts in the past 24 hours. Not one did they mention the National Guard or what they are or are not doing. Any other year that had wildfires to such an extent, you would have seen National Guardsmen in practically every camera shot. Here's some further reading:


California Fire & Iraq

Fire chief says state unprepared for deadly Calif. blazes

N.C. National Guard to fight CA wildfires