I am writing this not as a soldier, but assomeone who is apart of this country.

Hurricane Katrina has happened right outside on our backyard. It didn't affect us as it did our neighbors.

We are currently on call to assist. How we are going to assist if called to...I have no fucking clue.

We are geting ready to go far away to deal with things far beyond the scope of our borders.

With news of greater unrest, looting and frustration I wonder how well the soldiers in my unit will do in dealing with this? U.S. soldiers prepare to deal with unruly crowds to fight wars afar, but what happens when it is your own people at home you may have to fight and issues you have to deal with at home.

The focus of most our training is not in Homeland defense, but what we need to do over there, so that we don't get killed. We train to operate there, not here. Well at least from what I can see.

In all honesty the focus of our training is specific to problems that are not here and while no one could have predicted a problem would strike so close to home, I only can wonder, will this change the overall national plan?

I have always felt that there were issues at home that needed to be dealt with before comitting so much focus to problems overseas. It's difficult to argue when some of the sentiment from those resisting you overseas is that they hate you because you interfere in things they feel you have no place in.

When people need help now, what happens? The main problem for me right now is I really don't have any idea what is going on. Communication to the soldiers seems really vague.

I am sure the people in New Orleans are really frustrated. It is probably difficult to live in that situation when people do not communicate what the plan is.

To me, I think people are still deciding as we speak, what the plan of action will be.

The Army was never meant to be a national police force. If we are brought in to provide secuirty to the area, to me it says something about the state of things in the area. Obviously there has been a great amount things that has happened to the people of New Orleans and other affected areas.

We can can help today, we can help for the week, but how long can our unit in particular provide assistance without completely getting sidetracked from the mission we have already been set aside for.

My gripe is that there are so many problems laid out outside America that when a problem comes home, we really are put in a comprising position.

4th Brigade is a brand new Brigade. It is getting ready to go fight the war terrorism. I have looked around and have seen things get more stressful here for many people, even before the Hurricane. If the army has shown me anything, it needs its time to get ready for these deployments.

My point is that this disaster has come at a bad time. Our unit can only provide so much support for the National Guard. After that, it cuts into our preparedness in my humble opinion. Then when we go over there, who knows how we might pay.

I feel that the armed forces are spread thin. We have an army, but they only can do so many things.

And that is the reason why having a leader you trust to have the wisdom to organize us is key.

I never wanted George W. Bush as president not just because he seems like a goofball, but because I don't trust that he is managing us well.

Something has got to give in my opinion, and as the War on Terror Endures, other things will test America. It never is a question of if, but when.

America has to be ready to take care of itself. The longer we deal with issues overseas, the less able we can handle things at home.

No matter how many things good things we do over there, our over activity over there is going to hurt our effectiveness in helping people here.

I can only imagine the frustration of someone losing their homes and having to worry about getting beaten up, raped or shot after surviving the hurricane.

When people are hurt or feel they are at a loss and there is no hope, it gives people ammunition to seek a more violent solution.

The media itself is hard to trust. People don't trust everything they see on TV. How often did I hear, well the media tends to blow things out of proportion. I heard that in passing from a couple of people here. I can only imagine sometimes, if you were told this same thing was going to happen to your home, you would take the news completely seriously, but I am sure there would be doubt that this was really going to be as bad as it says it is on the news.

The media is obviously not there for the good of the people. It is there as a business.

In the world of today, can anyone really trust that they aren't being preyed upon for a buck.

We'll see what happens with my weekend. If I go out there to help out this weekend, my only hope is that there are no incidents with soldiers and rioting residents. I hope they clearly state what our mission is out there. And I hope they provide guidance and leadership.

To be honest I lack that confidence that this will be conveyed to us. If anything the things I've seen in this army makes me wonder, who is walking the dog. Sometimes I feel like I am a dog on a leesh with no one walking me.