AP NewsBreak: Memo says Guard mission to last at least two years

By AARON C. DAVIS
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- 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.

After the memo was released, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger initiated a conference call with the governors of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in hopes of getting a clearer picture of the president's plan, a Schwarzenegger administration official said.