<p>Now here are four words you <i>love</i> to see in the same sentence: &quot;appalling gap&quot; and &quot;homeland defense.&quot; Ann Scott Tyson of The Washington Post <a id="yos9" title="explains" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013101833.html?wpisrc=_rssnation/nationalsecurity">explains</a>:</p>

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<p>The <a target="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Armed+Forces?tid=informline">U.S. military</a> is not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home, and it is suffering from an &quot;appalling gap&quot; in forces able to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released yesterday.</p>

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<p>The situation is rooted in severe readiness problems in National Guard and reserve forces, which would otherwise be well-suited to respond to domestic crises but lack sufficient personnel and training, as well as $48 billion in equipment because of deployments to <a target="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Iraq?tid=informline">Iraq</a> and <a target="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Afghanistan?tid=informline">Afghanistan</a>, according to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.</p>

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<p>Guard readiness has continued to slide since last March, when the panel found that 88 percent of <a target="" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/The+Army+National+Guard?tid=informline">Army National Guard</a> units were rated &quot;not ready,&quot; said retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman.</p>

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<p>&quot;We think there is an appalling gap in readiness for homeland defense, because it will be the Guard and reserve that have to respond for these things,&quot; he said in an interview, noting that the reserves are present in 3,000 U.S. communities. The commission, which was established in 2005, has 12 members, including several other former military officers.</p>

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