PRESS RELEASE
KHAN BLASTS NATIONAL
GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN IRAQ
Depleted Guard Presence in NJ Endangers Homeland Security
Parsippany, October 24 – State Senate
candidate Dr. Wasim Khan (D-Parsippany) today blasted the federal decision to deploy 3,200 New Jersey National Guardsmen and
Guardswomen to Iraq, saying the massive deployment of New Jersey’s Guard will leave New Jersey unprepared to respond
to emergencies here at home.
“On one hand, the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security tells us that we are on a Yellow Alert, which supposedly means an elevated general threat level. On the
other hand, the President wants to send our National Guard overseas, where they will be unable to help us if disaster strikes.
If we really are facing an elevated threat level, that’s all the more reason for our National Guard to stay here at
home.”
Reports indicate that 3,200 New Jersey
National Guard members – out of the State’s approximately 6,000 guardsmen and women – will be deployed to
Iraq in 2008 and 2009, the single largest deployment from New Jersey since World War II. Dr. Khan is a medical doctor with
a master of public health degree from Harvard University. He is concerned that by sending nearly half of the State’s
available Guard members overseas, the federal government has opened a massive hole in New Jersey’s homeland security
safety net, and jeopardized the safety of our citizens.
“What will happen in the winter if we have another major ice storm that knocks out power to a large
area? What will happen if we get a tropical storm or hurricane like Hurricane Floyd that causes flooding? What if there is
another terrorist attack like September 11? The purpose of the New Jersey National Guard is to respond to emergencies like
that,” said Khan. In the summer of 2005, about 35% of Louisiana’s National Guard troops were unavailable to help
in rescue and relief operations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina because they had been deployed to Iraq.
Khan added, “What can our guardsmen and guardswomen expect to achieve
in Iraq? Iraq had nothing to do with September 11, so they won’t be investigating and arresting the criminals responsible
for that. We know that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, so our guardsmen and guardswomen won’t be finding and
defusing WMDs. The Iraqis have already held elections, so they don’t need the New Jersey National Guard to set up the
polling stations and protect voters. There seems to be no justification for taking New Jersey’s brave sons and daughters
away from their homes and families and putting them in harm’s way.” According to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
Web site, 428 members of the Army National Guard and 2 members of the Air National Guard are among the 3,835 U.S. servicemen
and -women who have been killed in Iraq.
“'I
would like to ask my opponent to join me in insisting that the New Jersey National Guard stay in New Jersey. Sending our National
Guard to a pointless deployment in Iraq is only one of many disastrous policies that the Republican Party has been pursuing
on a national level. From ‘borrow and spend’ policies that have resulted in massive deficits and huge debts, to
cuts in education and healthcare spending for the poor and middle class, to squandering our military resources on what has
become a pointless and endless occupation, the Republican Party seems intent on driving our country over a cliff. It is high
time that local Republicans, including my opponent, who is evidently planning to run for the U.S. Senate, exert their influence
to change this catastrophic course. For ordinary voters, the best way to send Washington a wakeup call is to turn out and
vote on November 6. As Thomas Paine wrote about the Revolutionary War, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
We also live in such times. This is the time for Democrats to turn out and vote and for Republicans to vote Democratic.”
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