Over Here

Bookmark this report. When the next natural or man-made disaster hits and thousands of people go without food and water for days (or worse), send the link to anyone shameless enough to claim that "no one could have predicted this" or "Iraq was not a factor" in our inability to respond to domestic emergencies:

In the Washington area, Guard officials worry about a catastrophic attack. In the event of "a very large . . . chemical, biological or nuclear incident in the national capital region, I would need every truck I was authorized, and we don't have that," said Col. Robert Simpson, director of the joint staff for the Virginia National Guard. "We are definitely short trucks, all wheeled vehicles," as well as radios, bulldozers and other gear, Simpson said. The state Guard could handle ordinary contingencies such as "bad winter weather," he said.

Apparently, the war in Iraq hasn't required many snow plows. So we've got that covered.