Neil Abercrombie: “My staff representing my delegation was briefed by Major General Lee, the adjutant general of the State of Hawaii, on…”

“My staff representing my delegation was briefed by Major General Lee, the adjutant general of the State of Hawaii, on the situation of the 29th Brigade, Hawaii Army National Guard. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army approved the alert of the 29th Brigade for deployment to Iraq. Earlier indications were, of course, that the 29th would be deployed to Afghanistan; but the situation on the ground in Iraq now requires additional soldiers from the 120,000 now there, and the enhanced 29th Brigade is needed. Now, this is happening all across the country; and if anybody thinks for a second that the 5,000 or 6,000 that are going to be involved in this current recall-up, involuntary call-up is going to solve it, I think they are dreaming. The 29th is one of the two remaining National Guard brigades not yet activated. It will perform reinforcing missions. Remember when I indicated here before that when this so-called sovereignty occurred, the United States military would be set adrift on a desert sea. They will perform reinforcing missions, whatever in God's name that means. The expected deployment will be 12 months.”