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State legislators in Vermont introduced legislation Wednesday demanding the state's National Guard troops return from Iraq. Lawmakers in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are poised to push similar legislation.
At the heart of the matter is a contention that President George W. Bush's legal authority to deploy the National Guard to Iraq has expired.
You can listen to my interview with the bill’s author, Vermont State Representative Michael Fisher here.
Also this week, the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves released a new report showing 88 percent of the units were not prepared for the fight. The commission's 400-page report concludes that the nation "does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available" to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons incident, "an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk."
