This whole question of TROOPS in NOLA

[Nikki Stone 1]

There are two kinds of troops at issue. The first is the national guard troops that different states could offer to NOLA to help. In "Congress Likely to Probe Guard Response"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_national_guard

AP makes it clear that:

"Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.

"New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday."


This implies that there is FEDERAL approval necessary to deploy guard troops from one state into another state. Is this always the case or does Federal involvement in a diaster through Homeland Security or FEMA make this kind of approval a necessity?

The article's mention of late paperwork (from DOD? FEMA? DHS?) implies that these Guard troops were deliberately withheld.