Why the Iraq Situation has Some Very Local Repercussions

By Sam Garchik

Iowa House Democrat Ray Zirkelbach had a hard week. He was supposed to come back to Iowa in March so that he could serve Iowans as a state legislator, but the DoD announced that his unit would be part of the troop build-up promised by Shrub, and he is expected to stay in Iraq until August. This is bad news for Ray, but it's also bad news for his constituents,who needed his voice in Des Moines. Iowa Democrats are lucky that our majority can sustain the unnecessary deployment of one of our House members.

The other foul-up relating to this deployment is that the the new Secretary of Defense botched the deployment orders. Apparently, according to the AP and the QC Times, news leaked out about the deployment before members of the unit were told by their superior officers, "days after their families knew about the extension."…  Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood said there has been no answer from the Department of Defense or the Army on why it happened.  ‘It sounds like there was a disconnect at the upper echelon, and by that I mean the Department of Defense,’ he said.”  [Quad City Times and AP, 1/19/07]."

This foul-up lead to a extremely rare bi-partisan letter from Iowa's congressional delegation:
 
The Honorable Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
United States Department of Defense
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC  20301
 
Dear Secretary Gates,

As Members of the Iowa Congressional Delegation, we are concerned with the recent news that members of the Iowa National Guard learned of the extension of their tour of duty only after the public had already been notified.  We seek assurances that this will not happen again.

News of an extension can have a significant psychological impact on America’s brave men and women in uniform.  Similarly, the way in which the troops receive this news is of the utmost importance.  We find it unacceptable that members of the 1-133rd Infantry Battalion learned of the extension of their tour through reading websites and from family members, and not through the proper chain of command.  They should have been notified either in advance, or in conjunction with, notification to the public.  Under no circumstances should the troops be notified after the public.

We have two specific requests.  First, please offer an explanation as to why members of the 1-133rd Infantry Battalion did not receive notification of the extension either prior to, or in conjunction with, the notification of the public.  Second, we request that you take steps to ensure that, in the future, America’s men and women in uniform always receive notification of a redeployment or extension either prior to, or in conjunction with, notification to the public.

Thank you for your consideration of our request.  We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Sen. Chuck Grassley
Sen. Tom Harkin
Rep. Leonard Boswell
Rep. Bruce Braley
Rep. David Loebsack
Rep. Tom Latham
Rep. Steve King