Report: Military Unprepared for Domestic Threats

[ZombieHorde]

By Ann Tyson

The U.S. military's reserves and National Guard forces are not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home and face an "appalling" shortage of forces able to respond to chemical, biological or nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released today.

The problem is rooted in severe readiness problems in the reserves and National Guard forces, which would be well-suited to respond to domestic crises but suffer from a lack of personnel and training as well as a $48 billion shortage of equipment, the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves said in the report.

"Because the nation has not adequately resourced its forces designated for response to weapons of mass destruction, it does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available. This is an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk," the report said.

National Guard readiness has continued to slide since March, when the commission found that 88 percent of Army National Guard units were rated "not ready," commission Chairman Arnold L. Punaro said.

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More at link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013101833.html?hpid=moreheadlines

[Ian David]

1. And in related news, congress finds that ursine mammals do indeed defecate in verdant environment.