posted June 24, 2006 10:31 PM              

Schwarzenegger Denies Bush Troop Request
By AARON C. DAVIS, AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 24) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week rejected a request from the Bush administration to send an additional 1,500 National Guard troops to the Mexican border, the governor's office confirmed Friday.

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The National Guard Bureau, an arm of the Pentagon, asked for the troops to help with the border-patrol mission in New Mexico and Arizona, but Schwarzenegger said the request would stretch the California Guard too thin in case of an emergency or natural disaster.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn confirmed the governor's decision Friday after two California National Guard officials revealed it to The Associated Press.

Mendelsohn said the governor believed sending more troops would create an inappropriate burden on the state and disrupt the guard's training schedule.

The overall deployment for the border mission will remain at 6,000 soldiers.

White House spokesman Blain K. Rethmeier said the administration remained committed to expanding the border patrol and reaching its targets of deployment as soon as possible.

"We are reviewing how this decision by California's governor may affect the overall deployment schedule of National Guard troops to the border," Rethmeier said in a statement Friday night.

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Photos: AP, Getty Images, KRT | Sources: AP, Pew Hispanic Center, uscis.gov

On June 1, Schwarzenegger agreed to send the California National Guard to the Mexican border to help the federal government's effort to curb illegal immigration. That ended a 17-day standoff with the Bush administration over whether the state would join the border patrol effort and who would pay for it.

California has committed to putting 1,000 troops on the border by July 31 and has 250 there already.

Schwarzenegger initially criticized the administration's plan to deploy troops to the border, saying it was the wrong approach to dealing with illegal immigration.

The governor finally relented after the Pentagon signed a document promising to pay for the entire mission, a cost that could top $1.4 billion nationally.

Schwarzenegger also wanted the Bush administration to commit to a firm end date. It did not, but Schwarzenegger signed an executive order saying he would not authorize the deployment beyond the end of 2008.

Associated Press Writer Scott Lindlaw contributed to this report from Soda Springs, Calif.

06/24/06 05:58 EDT

posted June 25, 2006 12:31 AM              

Don't blame them.

I'm sure he looks at both sides of the issue. We could sure use his advice.

Afterall. We are the ones the terrorists likes gettin back at. Other countries don't suffer with things like this all the time either. Maybe we do need a foreigner in office.