Governors say war is draining the states

Guard call-up hurts emergency resources, federal officials told

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

Senior federal officials heard complaints from the nation's governors in behind-the-scenes meetings that the Iraq war is draining critical state emergency resources because so many National Guardsmen are deployed abroad.

The New York Times reported that governors held a closed-door meeting Sunday with two top Pentagon officials and voiced their concerns about the effects, both on the troops' families and on the states' ability to deal with natural disasters and crime, amid the largest call-up of the National Guard since World War II.

The meeting came during the National Governors' Association meeting, which concluded in Seattle yesterday.

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