Bush administration, Ohio governor continue to spar over Guard

Bush administration, Ohio governor continue to spar over Guard

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
AP Statehouse Correspondent
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio's National Guard forces are being well equipped, trained and treated in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration assured Gov. Ted Strickland in a pair of recent letters responding to his public concern.

Strickland said through a spokesman that the letters, which his office released Monday on the eve of President Bush's scheduled visit to northeast Ohio, both came through mouthpieces for the president. He argues that as commander in chief of the Ohio National Guard, he deserves a personal response from the president.

The Guard and U.S. Army are fighting as one and "as such, Guard units deploying to combat theaters are outfitted with every item of equipment provided by the Active component and they are trained to the same standards as active duty units," wrote Donna Warren, chief for congressional inquiries at the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va.

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"The governor interprets the letters as a failure on the president's part to answer the questions directly," he said. "The response lacks the personal commitment from the president that the governor was seeking."

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