Washington - According to news reports, at least seven National Guard units will be notified that they will be deployed to Iraq in 2008 and 2009. As part of this, 2,700 of the 6,000 New Jersey National Guard soldiers will reportedly be deployed by the end of next summer - the largest New Jersey deployment since World War II.
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has repeatedly pushed for a transition of the mission in Iraq, today said that these reported deployments add to the many burdens of the Iraq War.
"The strain that the Iraq War is putting on our national security, on our homeland security and on American families becomes more evident by the day," said Sen. Menendez. "The domino effect caused by stretching our military thin is a dangerous one. With 170,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, we are less equipped to deal with other national security issues that might crop up around the world. With our National Guard needed over there, we are less equipped to deal with disasters at home. And then there are the human consequences of these deployments - the sons and daughters of America who are asked to serve in the crossfire in Iraq and their families back home who are left to sit and wait and worry.
"The best plan for our national security is to transition our troops out of Iraq, not into Iraq. Only when the Iraqi government and security forces actually believe we won't be there forever will they take control of their country."
# # #
