European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday March 29 2007 stars and stripes Page is opinion Gores fantasies Are his party nightmares no conversation about the presidential Campaign is Complete these Days until someone pops the burning question is Al Gore going to run my answer is always the u l i a j same he wants t0 Michael Goodwin but  it would be a loser for him and it might Cost the democratic party the White House that Gore has the itch is obvious he re fuses to Rule out a run and his return to Capi Tol Hill last week to talk about global warming looked like a Campaign Stop his film an inconvenient truth won an Oscar and his Nomina Tion for a Nobel prize has supporters dreaming winning that prize would be a stick in president Bush Eye and would create a groundswell for his candidacy he would vault to the head of the pack and win the nomination dream on in real life Gore is More Likely to be a spoiler than a Winner the Ralph Nader of 2008 the Booklet for Gore is not a sign of his strength it is a reflection of the party inability to make a commit ment to anyone or anything Sens Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Are first and second in National party polls for Good reason Clinton has the track record Money Field operation and Star Power and Obama has the Energy Charisma and freshness it escapes me How Gore would be More attractive than either or both in a general election one poll had Gore at 14 percent in third place ahead of John Edwards that seems pretty Good for a Guy not running until you remember that 14 percent is about where Newt Gingrich is among republicans and nobody thinks Hes going to be president the Gore fantasy is an example of the democratic ritual of eating their own of indulging in bickering and second guessing until defeat has been secured the habit was on full display in fridays House vote on ending the War in Iraq despite promises to bring the troops Home and blistering attacks on the gop culture of corruption speaker Nancy Kelosis team openly bought votes by promising tens of millions of dollars in wasteful subsidies for Dairy Farmers spinach producers and Peanut businesses Hartline liberals were fight ing Ultra Ardline liberals after All that the Bill which continues War funding even As it requires withdraw Al by september 2008 got the Barest Possi ble majority 218 votes it will not pass the Senate and even if it does Bush would veto it that Means dems eventually will have to vote for a clean funding Bill or be guilty of defending our troops i Battle if fridays vote was Victory its hard to imagine what defeat would look Tike Gore of course knows All about close votes having won the popular vote in 2000 but those who remember that fact alone Are forgetting the rest of the Story he was a Lousy candidate who should have won in a cakewalk he was so bad he lost his Home state of Tennessee old doubts about his authenticity would surface including that he paid for advice on dressing like an Alpha male even his personal commitment to the environment is suspect with his Carbo spewing life style already the butt of lat night jokes and despite his conviction that we face a global crisis Gore hardly mentioned the subject six years ago because his handlers told him not to that part of the Al Gore Story too and it should Wake up the dreamers about his chances of saving the party in 2008 better he should stick to saving the planet four ind second in National imagine what defeat would look Tike on dressing like an Alpha male even his he should stick to saving the planet Al reason Clinton has Gore of course knows All about close personal commitment to the environment Michael Goodwin is a new York daily news columnist years later and Iraq War hits Home d Dreher families and futures they Arent num though they Are seeking treatment cent of the guard is not combat ready in new Bers psychological and otherwise in roughly when it comes to equipment he said if the cause is just and Victory is attain twice the numbers of Active duty soldiers the National guard has told us that that Aeo i sat on a bar Stool Able the nation should be prepared to lose the new York times reported recently worse in terms of readiness than the by Rod Dreher the Dallas morning news four years ago i sat on a bar Stool in Manhattan and watched presi Dent Bush on to announce the be ginning of War with Iraq it was quite honestly thrilling Shock and Awe baby payback time the Chance that my brother inlaw James a National guard officer might have to go gave me slight pause but the cause was just the War was necessary and that was that or so i thought Back when i trusted in the credibility and competence of my government four years into this ruinous adventure the War is finally coming Home for me a couple of weeks Back i made the Long drive to Tell James goodbye he and his guard unit will be sent to Baghdad soon their Mission to Clear highways of Roadside bombs James is going to spend at least a year doing this he leaves behind a wife and three Young children its excruciating to watch James prepare for War knowing what we now know about How the Bush administration conceived and botched this thing i asked James the other Day what his feelings were about the War it might sound cold but i dont feel he said in a Soldier i have to do my duty cold hardly it sounded Brave and Noble i shut my fat Mouth knowing that my responsibility to him is to build him up As he prepares for Battle not do anything to sap his morale but i am angry Over this there is the tragedy of sending More americans to risk their lives and their futures in a vain Effort to Stop a civil War that everybody knows is coming columnist Victor Davis Hanson says that 3000 us dead in four years of fighting is a pittance in historical terms Hes right but the historian is dealing in abstraction those soldiers had names and families and futures they Arent num Bers if the cause is just and Victory is attain Able the nation should be prepared to lose 10 times that number but for phantom democracy for the greater glory of iraqi shias an to save Bush face no the misuse and abuse of the National guard and Reserve in this War is a Dis Grace around 200000 us guardsmen have served in Iraq or Afghanistan though most signed up with the guard to protect their state in Case of natural disaster they knew they might be called to Active duty should War break out but they did not count on multiple rotations and the potential ruin to their marriages and careers they Are sent into com Bat zones with less training than profession Al soldiers receive according to a defense department study they Are significantly More susceptible to psychological trauma from combat deployments guardsmen re turning from Iraq find that there Are relatively few medical resources to help them even though they Are seeking treatment psychological and otherwise in roughly twice the numbers of Active duty soldiers the new York times reported recently that while deployment is a hardship for All families on the Home front the Burden Falls hardest on National guard families Why mostly because unlike families in which a spouse serves in the professional army there is no natural social support Structure for them like on base communities this War is being fought without the mobilization of the american people guard and re serve families can feel isolated and alone this War is wrecking the National guard earlier this month the commis Sion on the National guard and reserves established by Congress to study the effect of the War on those military branches is sued its interim report Arnold Punaro a retired Marine corps major general who Heads the commission told pcs news hour that the current situation is not sustainable right now in the United states 88 per cent of the guard is not combat ready when it comes to equipment he said the National guard has told us that that worse in terms of readiness than the worst Days of the so called hollow Force in the late 70s and Early 80s and in that time Frame people were in almost a panic about our poor readiness state of our Mili tary you might be thinking Man the guard and their families really Are in a bad Way  we be doing More to help like of winding the War Down or at least pay ing More taxes to fund sufficient equip ment and medical care for our soldiers perish the thought said our commander in chief in january with his customary churchillian gravitas i think a lot of peo ple Are in this fight i mean they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on to every night share the suffering watch More to for our military families its the least we can do and apparently the most Rod Dreher is a Dallas morning news editorial columnist prickly City by Scott Stantis dont a Swey 50 or some