If the 'Generals on the ground'…

…are the best authority on troop strength in Iraq, wouldn't you figure the same standard would apply here at home?

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and a top National Guard officer yesterday decried the Pentagon's recommendation to transfer an F-15 fighter unit based in Portland across the country, asserting that the move would make the region less secure.

The move, proposed as part of a a national effort to close and realign bases, could endanger tens of thousands of lives in the Puget Sound, said Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, the Washington National Guard's adjutant general.

The decision that a federal commission is considering is whether to transfer 15 F-15s from the Air National Guard base in Portland -- leaving just two remaining to defend the Pacific Northwest.

Or maybe they just don't care…

Cantwell and Lowenberg said they and other top military or political leaders in the state hadn't been consulted before the Pentagon made its recommendation to the commission. The commission is set to hold hearings on the matter next week.

Maybe those of us who grew up in the era of air raid drills at school and NIKE sites on most every vacant lot are more mindful of it than some others, but this really is Ground Zero. Within a couple hours one way or another of my house is a major Army base, and Air Force base and a National Guard camp, all having featured roles in the Iraq adventure, along with a Navy Home Port, a Naval Air Station, a Trident submarine base and a gaggle of Coast Guard stations, major defense and security contractors and, of course, the stuff they don't tell us about. (At least, I kinda hope there's stuff they don't tell us about...)

Ground Zero.

Two planes.

Kudos to Senator Cantwell for caring…