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AP NewsBreak: Guard Stint to Last 2 Years (at least two years with no clear end date)
The AP via Yahoo! News ^ | May 19, 2006 | Aaron C. Davis

Posted on 05/19/2006 7:50:15 PM PDT by new yorker 77

President Bush's planned deployment of National Guard troops to the Mexican border would last at least two years with no clear end date, according to a Pentagon memo obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

The one-page "initial guidance" memo to National Guard leaders in border states does not address the estimated cost of the mission or when soldiers would be deployed. But high-ranking officials in the California National Guard said they were told Friday that deployments would not begin before early June.

While the military document makes clear the troops would remain under the command of their governors, it also indicates a high degree of federal control over operations. It states that the National Guard Bureau's Army and Air Directories "will serve as the states' focal points for force-planning, training, organizing and equipping their forces."

Guardsmen in "all other states, territories and the District of Columbia" will serve a supportive role, according to the memo.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has not yet decided whether to commit troops to the mission, led a conference call with the governors of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to discuss the memo.

"There still remains a lot of unanswered questions that the governor is concerned about," Adam Mandelsohn, Schwarzenegger's communications director. "Most specifically, the outstanding funding issues and whether there is a commitment to the two-year time frame," he said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said they would support the deployment of National Guard troops to the border, while New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, has been more critical of the plan.

A spokeswoman for Perry said the governors agreed to send a letter asking the Bush administration to clarify issues such as funding, rotation and troop levels that would be stationed in each of the states.

The president outlined the plan Monday night as part of a national address on curbing illegal immigration, pledging to gain control of the border and give up to 12 million illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship.

He proposed deploying 6,000 troops at a time to the border in two-week rotations. The deployments would be temporary, he said, until enough Border Patrol agents were hired to secure the mission. He asked Congress to add 6,000 more Border Patrol agents by the end of his presidency.

The White House also said the troops would be financed with part of the $1.9 billion requested from Congress this year to supplement border enforcement.

The memo sent Friday to Guard leaders went further, stating that units would remain in a "federally funded" mission for "up to one year, with a force reduction to 3,000 during the second year."

The document described an "end date" for the mission when the U.S. Border Patrol operation "gains independent operational control of the (southwest border) and National Guard forces are no longer required for this mission."

The memo said the Guard units' missions will focus on "surveillance, reconnaissance, aviation, intelligence, engineering, training, vehicle dismantling, linguistics ... transportation and logistics."

They will not be asked to perform law-enforcement functions, but rather provide "vetted and pre-coordinated support to law enforcement."

___

Associated Press Writers Paul Davenport in Phoenix and Sheila Flynn in Dallas contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona; US: California; US: New Mexico; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: assocpressstinks; homebychristmas; nationalguard; southernborder; twowholeyears
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To: new yorker 77
That's a looong photo-op. For their own sanity, I hope they can at least get internet access out there, or be bale to take portable games into the field.
41 posted on 05/19/2006 8:47:13 PM PDT by KoRn
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To: JeanS
I think you're wrong.

Fair enough.

Gee hon, it's how these things go. Get a grip.

42 posted on 05/19/2006 8:48:27 PM PDT by Fishtalk (http://patfish.blogspot.com/)
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To: Jim Robinson
"What? No exit plan? How do we win the peace????"

LOL! That's priceless. You also neglected to mention how we are acting unilaterally, rushing to protect the border!

43 posted on 05/19/2006 8:49:51 PM PDT by KoRn
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To: Fishtalk; Mr. Mojo

Fishtalk said: "Republicans. They only know a public relations opportunity when it smacks them in the face. Every Republican in the House and Senate should be out and about cackling about Harry Reid's assertion that making English our language is discrimination."

They should also be "cackling" about the 32+/- Democrats who voted against making English the US's official language (including Biden, Hillary, Kerry, Kennedy, Bayh, etc)


44 posted on 05/19/2006 8:50:43 PM PDT by unfortunately a bluestater
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To: Jim Robinson
What? No exit plan? How do we win the peace????

And minus a sovereign nation? No sweat!

45 posted on 05/19/2006 8:55:12 PM PDT by LNewman
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To: Diddle E. Squat


FOTFLOL!
You have it nailed!


46 posted on 05/19/2006 8:56:23 PM PDT by onyx (Deport the trolls --- send them back to DU)
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To: unfortunately a bluestater

Instead, the Republicans are running around like the Keystone Kops.

Even Rush was saying today -- they have no leadership; they show no leadership.

Why send them back? Maybe it will take a Speaker Pelosi and a Majority Leader Reid to wake them up. Nothing else seems to work. They sure are ignoring their constituents on the illegal immigration issue.

Look at the number of issues the WH has flopped around like a dying mackeral just since the last election--Social Security, Miers, Dubai DPW, amnesty for illegals, English as the National language....


47 posted on 05/19/2006 9:00:10 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: new yorker 77
Well anyway...there really is a logic to my hunch that the administration leaked this.

First thing, the AP gets its hands on an actual memorandum. Not a mid of night phone call. An actual memo. Second, the memo is from the pentagon. Now I know there's leakers everywhere but this is a whole lot for it not to be intentional.

Also, this memo was distributed to a whole bunch of states so I guess it's probably not a leak at all when you think about it. Probably Joe Blow in Outpost 12 faxed a copy to the AP.

The thing to keep in mind here, this is a rather obvious attempt to put this two year thing into our collective heads. Because many of us doubt this administration's (specifically the Senate's) sincerity on this matter.

But what does a memo mean? So they send out a memo stating the rotation term could be two years. It's not like they're putting us in a time machine and thrusting us forward two years to see if there are still guards at the border.

It's like the whole middle class in this country, those who carry this country on their backs, has crossed its arms on this matter and doesn't believe a word those in the political class are telling us.

And why the hell should we? WE...meaning us silly folk who are tired of paying for welfare, health care costs, on and on, for these illegals. WE...who were killed on the attacks of 9-11...not a soldier died, not one politician. WE who want not just anybody la-di-da to just traipse across our borders. WE...who have the common sense and they call it that for a readon.

I am perfectly and very serious about this putting aside silly arguments.

I do not believe a sniff of the smoke they are blowing in our face.

48 posted on 05/19/2006 9:01:21 PM PDT by Fishtalk (http://patfish.blogspot.com/)
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To: Jim Robinson; new yorker 77

How can we win the peace around here???

Can we find a exit strategy for every thread turning negative????


49 posted on 05/19/2006 9:01:53 PM PDT by Txsleuth
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To: NormsRevenge
2 years sounds reasonable..

Depends on the per diem.

Dang. I might be guard bumming around again. This sounds good.

/johnny

50 posted on 05/19/2006 9:02:02 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (D@mit! I'm just a cook. Don't make me come over there and prove it!)
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To: Mr. Mojo
Gotta win those "hearts and minds." Ma offered to help. Ma Duece.

God will know his own.

And I'm all atwitchin at the though of helping some haji reach his goal.

Clear, load, rack, mash.

It isn't rocket science. except for the earplugs.

/johnny

51 posted on 05/19/2006 9:09:26 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (D@mit! I'm just a cook. Don't make me come over there and prove it!)
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To: org.whodat

Given the two week deployment criteria, that means up to 150,000 Guardsmen will eventually be sent to the border.


52 posted on 05/19/2006 9:19:55 PM PDT by oldbill
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To: Mr. Mojo
I find it interesting that so many border crossers come up with thousands of dollars to pay coyotes or smugglers to get them into the USA, yet reportedly have no money to support their families in Mexico. Why not use those thousands of dollars to buy tacos and school supplies for the niños?
53 posted on 05/19/2006 9:21:46 PM PDT by Sender (“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” – Old Chinese proverb)
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To: Diddle E. Squat

Absolutely correct. I am sure there was no MSM complaining about "no clear end date" in the Balkans.


54 posted on 05/19/2006 9:21:57 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (ETERNAL SHAME on the Treasonous and Immoral Democrats!)
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To: TomGuy

"Instead, the Republicans are running around like the Keystone Kops."



LOL. Pathetic, but true. You're right---where's the leadership?

As you indicate, not from the WH. Today Alberto Gonzalez got caught in a "linguistic snare" over whether Bush supports making English the national language. As it turns out, Bush does not want it to be the "official" language, but he has "no problem" calling it the "national" language or the "common unifying language"; but, what he has "long supported" is "English-Plus".

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-05-20T001900Z_01_N19233580_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-IMMIGRATION-GONZALES.xml&archived=False


55 posted on 05/19/2006 9:24:37 PM PDT by unfortunately a bluestater
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To: new yorker 77
What an incredibly stupid move this all is. We are going to send the Guard down to a hostile border, against narcoterrorists (along with the illegals) and they will not be armed.

We are going to put trained soldiers on police duty with no powers of arrest or defense. Great way to break a fighting force. Clinton did this too and it was stupid then.

When will our politicians ever learn?. Why is a Republican President doing this? Why are we catering to dems and the MSM?
56 posted on 05/19/2006 9:25:15 PM PDT by JSteff
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To: new yorker 77; Dane; Howlin
Once again, President Bush moves closer to what his critics here want on the border issue...

...and once again, they can't admit it, but instead bitch about him...

57 posted on 05/19/2006 9:26:28 PM PDT by Darkwolf377 (Kowtowing to the Bush haters ends now)
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To: bnelson44

"Congress makes and changes laws. "

Actually more "law" is created by the administrative branch of the U.S. government. That is solidly controlled by democratic plants.


58 posted on 05/19/2006 9:30:38 PM PDT by JSteff
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To: new yorker 77
My relatives who are on the Border Patrol all had to endure a waiting period of over one year after application to be hired. All are veterans with no blemishes on their record, at least 60 hours of college with excellent credit and driving records.
With this kind of backlog and bureaucratic BS I can't see any rapid build up of the BP.
59 posted on 05/19/2006 9:36:00 PM PDT by BnBlFlag (Deo Vindice/Semper Fidelis)
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To: bnelson44

quagmire !!!!!!!!!

heh

ditto on the good btw


60 posted on 05/19/2006 9:46:57 PM PDT by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget (God punishes Conservatives by making them argue with fools.)
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