"Gov. Jan Brewer asks for federal troops to deal with violence at the Mexican border."

Here is an excerpt from this article in the Phoenix Business Journal:

"Drug wars and scores of murders in northern Mexico has prompted Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to ask the Pentagon for more troops along the state’s border with Mexico. Brewer has written U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking for an increase in National Guard troops from 150 to 400. 'Arizona communities and citizens are negatively affected by the impacts of the illegal drug trade and related border violence, and enforcement agencies in all jurisdictions are stretched as they attempt to address the enormity of the problems,” Brewer said Wednesday. “Our citizens must be protected from border violence. Arizona and other U.S./Mexico border states continue to be confronted by a number of unique and disproportionate challenges relative to other states and we bear significant unreimbursed costs in the public, nonprofit and business sectors associated with border related challenges.'" Link to Full Article

I'm curious to see how the Defense Department responds to this request. California National Guard troops were deployed to the California-Mexico border under Operation JUMPSTART, a plan that was not Governor Schwarzenegger's favorite because he felt deploying California Guard troops to the border was a stop-gap measure that would decrease their overall effectiveness in responding to fires, riots, etc. The troops were pulled from the border last year, and by all accounts were a huge help to the Border Patrol, serving as extra sets of eyes (which comprises much of what they were legally allowed to do) so the Border Patrol could focus on apprehensions. Anyway, Schwarzenegger ended up coming up with his own Guard deployment plan and ensured the funding came from the federal government. Operation JUMPSTART was comprised of 6,000 troops and Brewer is only asking for 250 more. Arizona and Texas are the two states being hardest hit by border violence, so this request comes as no surprise. The question is, how will a cash-strapped Obama Administration respond, and what will the public-relations impact be if the DoD denies the request. Considering the success of Guard troops along the border in the last few years, the dire straits of the Border Patrol and US law enforcement in Arizona, and the relatively small number of additional troops being requested, I hope Brewer's request is approved and the troops are sent sooner rather than later.