Local Campaigns

May 18, 2012

USS Carl Vinson sailor charged while APEC agent seeks immunity from murder charges

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports “USS Carl Vinson sailor charged with burglary and criminal property damage” (May 18, 2012):

A sailor from the visiting aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is charged with burglary and two counts of criminal property damage after he allegedly broke into an occupied Waikiki apartment early Wednesday morning.

Bail for Christopher Rico, 20, was set at $11,000 Thursday night.

Courtesy: Honolulu Police

The USS Carl Vinson has a perfect record in the last two port visits:

This is the second time in two visits that a sailor from the carrier has gotten in trouble with the law. Police were called in June of last year when a 22-year-old Navy man ended up naked in the bedroom of a McCully apartment. The resident of the apartment decided not to press charges in that case.

Meanwhile, Christopher Deedy, the State Department security agent assigned to the APEC summit in Honolulu who is accused of murdering Kollin Elderts in a McDonaldʻs restaurant, sought immunity from the charges against him. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports “Agent claims immunity in shooting” (May 17, 2012):

The State Department special agent accused of fatally shooting a man at a McDonald’s restaurant in Waikiki in November claims he was performing his duties as a federal law enforcement officer and is therefore immune from prosecution under state law, according to records filed in the case this week.

Christopher Deedy, 28, is scheduled to stand trial in state court for murder in September.

However, his lawyer, Brook Hart, filed legal papers seeking to dismiss the case or to at least delay his trial. Hart filed the documents Monday detailing Deedy’s version of the events that culminated in the Nov. 5 fatal shooting of Kollin Elderts, 23, and the reasons Deedy believes he should not be prosecuted.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn, who is presiding over the case, is not releasing the documents.

Hart says Deedy was in Honolulu as a federal law enforcement officer on an official State Department assignment with the power of arrest and the right to carry a firearm.

The State Department said Deedy was in Hawaii as a member of its Bureau of Diplomatic Security to provide security for leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.

The judge did not release the motion to dismiss the case at the request of the prosecution. The Honolulu Star Advertiser wrote “Seal motion, prosecutors ask” (May 18, 2012):

City prosecutors are asking a state judge to keep sealed a request to dismiss a murder charge against a State Department special agent and its supporting exhibits, which include surveillance videotapes of the fatal shooting at a McDonald’s Waikiki restaurant last year.

The defense for special agent Christopher Deedy this week filed the dismissal motion and supporting exhibits that include McDonald’s videotapes at the Kuhio Avenue restaurant.

The dismissal request is based on the contention that Deedy was performing his duties as a federal law enforcement officer and is immune from prosecution under state law.

City Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa said the defense documents and exhibits include arguments related to the merits of the case against Deedy but not the dismissal motion.

She said publicity about the request and supporting exhibits might taint potential jurors and harm the trial proceedings.

[. . . ]

Honolulu attorney Jeffrey Portnoy, who will ask to participate in the case for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser to argue against the prosecution’s request, said keeping information confidential is “woefully inadequate” for a case of such local and national importance.

Ahn is scheduled to hear the prosecution’s request to keep information sealed on Thursday. The hearing on the dismissal request is scheduled for July.

Deedy, 28, is scheduled to stand trial in September on the charge of murdering Kollin Elderts, 23, on Nov. 5. The special agent was here to provide security for leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.

Will this APEC killing be another Massie incident?

May 16, 2012

Sailor from USS Carl Vinson allegedly terrorized Waikiki residents

In announcing that 2700 Marines may be moved from Okinawa to Hawaiʻi, Senator Daniel Inouye said: “We must build more housing, secure more training areas and improve and expand infrastructure while working with the counties and the state to make certain the Marines transition easily into their new duty station in Hawaii. The one thing I am confident of, is that the people of Hawaii will welcome these brave men and women and their families with Aloha.”

Last night, a sailor from the USS Carl Vinson nuclear powered aircraft carrier allegedly broke into a Waikiki apartment and assaulted the residents. Okinawans have complained about the rates of violence, sexual assault and crime committed by U.S. troops stationed there. Is this what will “transition easily” to Hawaiʻi? Did the assaulted Waikiki residents not show the sailor enough “Aloha”? The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports “Sailor from USS Carl Vinson allegedly terrorized Waikiki residents” (May 16, 2012):

Security guards from a neighboring building helped subdue and capture a 20-year-old sailor, from the visiting aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, who allegedly broke into an occupied apartment in Waikiki overnight and assaulted one of the residents, police said.

The 20-year-old man broke into the louvered window of an apartment near Paokalani and Kuhio avenues at about 12:16 a.m. and when residents in the apartment approached him, the suspect became aggressive, police said. The residents, a 30-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, retreated back into the apartment. But the suspect broke in and assaulted one of the residents, police said.

Security guards from a neighboring building heard the commotion and came to the aid of the apartment dwellers, detaining the suspect until police arrived and arrested him.

The man matched the description of an earlier criminal property damage case and the victims in that case came to the apartment building and identified the suspect, who was in custody for investigation of burglary, criminal property damage and assault.

May 15, 2012

The Merry Month of May: Missiles launched as Hawaiʻi braces for another RIMPAC invasion

May is known as the “Merry Month” for its longer days and warm sunshine. Most of the world observes May 1st as International Workers’ Day or celebrates the ancient pagan rites of spring. But in the U.S., the radical legacy of May Day has been suppressed and supplanted by the typically tame Labor Day. In Hawai’i, on the other hand, “May Day is Lei Day,” a holiday invented in 1927 as the perfect marketing gimmick for the tourist industry. This year, the Occupy movement across the U.S. called for an international day of action on May 1st. Thousands took to the streets in Oakland, New York and other major cities. DeOccupy Honolulu also held a solidarity rally.

While the action did not amount to a general strike, the spirit and symbolism of the action was significant. Activists painted a banner depicting Kanawai Mamala Hoe (The Law of the Splintered Paddle), a Hawaiian human right law that protected ordinary persons from harassment even when sleeping along the side of the trail. This has been a theme of the DeOccupy movement in Honolulu to resist the harassment and eviction of the poor and homeless and to defend access to the commons. A few weeks earlier DeOccupy activists stood with houseless families on the west side of Oʻahu as the City of Honolulu raided and swept them from their dwellings. But the artwork that was to be featured at the May Day event was seized by City workers the day before the event. This led Laulani Teale and other activists to confront Mayor Peter Carlisle at a public May Day concert in Waikiki, where Teale was arrested for “disturbing the peace” to a chorus of tourists applauding her removal. Such is the state of ‘aloha’.

The month of May is also Asian-Pacific American Heritage month in the U.S., but you would never know that in Hawaiʻi. Although Asians and Pacific Islanders comprise most of Hawaiʻi’s population, few if any claim “Asian-Pacific American” as their identity. Why is that? One reason is that since there are so many Asians and Pacific Islanders, people tend to claim a multi-ethnic “Local” identity or else identify with their particular ethnic groups. However, I think the main reason is that despite whatever political affinity with the U.S. a person may have, deep down they realize that Hawaiʻi is not of America. A glance at any map immediately presents this problem to the viewer: Hawaiʻi is 2500 miles from America.

Which brings us to the lingering problem of the U.S. having invaded and occupied the independent Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in order to establish a strategic military outpost in the Pacific and coincidentally to the annual observance that occupies the most space in the month of May in Hawaiʻi: Military Appreciation Month. Most states have an military appreciation day, or a week, but that’s not enough tribute for the game masters of Hawai’i. Orchestrated by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai’i, the same business association that pushed for the cession of Ke Awalau o Pu’uloa (Pearl Harbor) to the U.S. in 1876 in exchange for duty free sugar exports to the U.S., Military Appreciation Month is a dizzying public relations blitz that can leave one confused about who belongs to this place anyway, which is precisely the point. There are military discounts at restaurants, theaters, and other businesses (no local discounts), special events and media spectaculars, and even a glossy full-color booklet insert in the newspaper.

For the military, this is a good month for announcing military expansion plans or the reoccupation of land formerly returned by the military. It is a good month for an aircraft carrier to make a port call and for the Navy to announce that sonar training may be twice as dangerous to marine mammals than previously thought. It is an excellent month to conduct missile tests on Kauaʻi only a month after sharply criticizing North Korea for doing the same. The Missile Defense Agency reported “Second-Generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System Completes Successful Intercept Flight Test” (May 9, 2012):

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS LAKE ERIE (CG 70) successfully conducted a flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, resulting in the first intercept of a short-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean by the Navy’s newest Missile Defense interceptor, the Standard Missile – 3 (SM-3) Block 1B.

At 8:18 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (2:18 a.m. EDT May 10) the target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, located on Kauai, Hawaii. The target flew on a northwesterly trajectory towards a broad ocean area of the Pacific Ocean. Following target launch, the USS LAKE ERIE detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar. The ship, equipped with the second-generation Aegis BMD 4.0.1 weapon system, developed a fire control solution and launched the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB interceptor.

This video depicts the weaponized concept of ʻalohaʻ, a weapon to neutralize your ability to defend yourself. The Honolulu Star Advertiser covered the story as well – “Pearl Harbor-based ship tests new missile defense system” (May 11, 2012).

But the proliferation of U.S. missile systems in Europe and Asia have actually increased tensions and insecurity. CNN reported “Russian general raises idea of pre-emptive strike against missile shield” (May 5, 2012):

With talks deadlocked between the United States and Russia over plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Europe, a top Russian general raised the possibility of a possible pre-emptive strike against launch sites if a deal could not be reached.

The warning by Gen. Nikolai Makarov followed the conclusion of the international Missile Defense Conference in Russia, where Russian officials lobbied against the missile shield.

“Taking into account the destabilizing nature of the missile defense system and, in particular, creating an illusion of an unpunishable strike, the decision about a pre-emptive use of force will be made in a period of heightened tension,” Makarov said.

And most of all, on even numbered years like this one, May is when the military hypes the RIMPAC exercises that take place later in the Summer. The sci-fi blockbuster movie “Battleship” just opened in theaters. Based on the board game of the same name and set during the RIMPAC exercises in Hawaiʻi, the movie is computer-generated propaganda for the military and its weapons, just like its “Transformers” counterpart. William Cole of the Honolulu Star Advertiser wrote “22 Nations Gear Up for RIMPAC exercises in isles.” (May 9, 2012):

Twenty-two nations, 42 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise scheduled for June 29 to Aug. 3 in and around Hawaii, the Navy said Tuesday.

The world’s biggest international maritime military exercise will be larger than two years ago, reflecting reduced wartime commitments and the growing emphasis on the Pacific.

RIMPAC “provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans,” the Navy said in a news release. The series began in 1971.

This year’s exercise includes units or personnel from Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, South Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz will be the centerpiece of U.S. Navy forces. Surface ships will “battle” three submarines from Pearl Harbor and subs from Australia, Canada and South Korea.

[…]
Training includes amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counterpiracy, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal and diving and salvage operations.

War games also will have tests of a submarine-launched unmanned aerial vehicle and blue-laser underwater communications, and a “green” emphasis with the largest government purchase of biofuel in history.

Nevermind the human cost and morality of the wars or the dangers of rising militarization around the world, it’s just business:

Hoteliers are expecting an influx of business, with past RIMPAC exercises adding more than $40 million in contracts and spending on shore, the Navy said.

[…]

Thirty-two ships, five submarines, more than 170 aircraft and about 20,000 personnel took part in RIMPAC two years ago.

This would be a good time for federal anti-human trafficking law enforcement agencies to monitor the sex industry when the fleets are in town. The Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery notes, large port calls are typically when international sex-trafficking organizations transport women to Hawaiʻi to exploit the militarized sex industry:

Hawaii is driven by a tourist-based economy which attracts sex-traffickers looking to establish territory to capitalize on the market of male travelers and transient military personnel.

Law enforcement ought to be more vigilant during RIMPAC, but they probably won’t do anything. After all, a big anti-trafficking bust during an even bigger international military exercise would be bad for business and the military and would not show ‘aloha’ for the visiting troops.

May 14, 2012

Was Kalaeloa / Barbers Point land banked for possible military return?

The U.S. decision to disperse 9000 Marines from Okinawa to various locations around the Pacific, including 2700 to Hawaiʻi is generating much anxiety and opposition from affected communities as well as enthusiasm from some who hope to cash in on this bonanza. As reported by William Cole of the Honolulu Star Adverstiser, some residents of the ʻEwa district have suggested turning the former Barber’s Point Naval Air Station site back into a base to house the Marines – “Kalaeloa suggested to house incoming Marines” (May 13, 2012):

No sooner had plans been confirmed for 2,500 or more Marines coming to Hawaii from Japan than Honolulu resident Dennis Egge suggested how to accommodate them.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if the Navy moved its planes and personnel back to (Naval Air Station) Barbers Point?” Egge said. “Something important went missing from the Ewa Plain when our naval air squadrons moved from NAS Barbers Point to (Marine Corps Air Station) Kaneohe, leaving the Coast Guard to ‘hold down the fort.’

“Now, the Marines need extra space at MCAS Kaneohe to accommodate Marine Corps personnel and their families and equipment immigrating from Okinawa. Isn’t this a great opportunity for the Navy to return to NAS Barbers Point?”

And politicians seem to be supportive of the idea:

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, recently was asked at a town hall meeting in Ewa Beach if she would support Marine housing at Kalaeloa.

“Her response was yes, that sounds like something she would support,” said Hanabusa spokesman Richard Rapoza.

As Cole writes:

The Marines’ preference is to have most of its forces at Kaneohe Bay, but plans already in the works, including proposals for Navy P-8A Poseidon jets, Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and new attack, utility and heavy transport helicopters — adding up to a 49 percent increase in airfield use by 2018 — might make it impossible to base all the Marines there.

An official said Pearl City Peninsula, where SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1 has a compound, is among multiple sites on Oahu that might be looked at to house some of the extra Marines.

The old Barbers Point is another.

Kalaeloa / Barbers Point was the only base in Hawaiʻi that was closed and returned under the Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) process. But unlike other closed bases where local communities strategically planned and successfully converted the former military facilities into civilian centers for economic development, civic entrepreneurial initiatives and social programs, the conversion of Barbers Point floundered:

Anthony Ching, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which has oversight of the shuttered Barbers Point, said a new Marine Corps family housing project could really help revitalize the old base.

“If the military were to decide that Barbers Point is a good place to locate family housing, for instance, could they do that? Most certainly,” Ching said.

So-far unrealized hopes for major redevelopment of Barbers, closed as a military base in 1999, and the dilapidated state of a lot of the land and facilities since then, have left some West Oahu residents pining for the old well-kept military days.

An HCDA master plan for the 3,709-acre base, now called Kalaeloa, still calls for 6,350 homes, a 7,000-job business district and two rail transit stations, Ching said.

State officials previously estimated that $3.35 billion was needed to realize the plan, including $550 million to improve old roads, water utilities, electrical systems and other infrastructure.

An examination given to basing an aircraft carrier air wing at Kalaeloa — which put some redevelopment plans on hold — ended in 2007 with the Navy deciding to base the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego instead of Pearl Harbor.

Why did the base conversion fail so miserably in Hawaiʻi? Other successful base conversions had vision and political will behind it. They engaged the local community in the planning process. They created base conversion agencies that had actual planning, implementation and resource development authorities. In the case of Barbers Point, the closed base was treated first as an unwanted orphan, transferred to an office that had no real authority to plan or redevelop the site. Then, the land was treated as if it were a beef carcass to be carved up with the choicest cuts going to well-connected interest groups or to settle political debts. The result was a patchwork of different entities claiming turf, no one with the authority to move a plan forward, and deteriorating conditions at the actual site.

But was this just another example of government ineptitude? Or was the conversion process left to fail by design? If Barbers Point was successfully converted, it would have inspired people to demand conversion of other military sites. This would not have been good for the military or those political and economic interests that directly benefit from the military economy. But if it was neglected, eventually someone in the community would start “pining” for the military to return and restore order to the site. In a way, the net effect of neglecting the base conversion has been to bank the land for possible future military needs. Now that the Marines need more housing and facilities, the benefit of this strategy for the military interests become clear.

May 14, 2012

Searching for answers and accountability in recent military aircraft crashes

In April 9, 2010, an Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed in Afghanistan killing four people.

Almost two years to the day after the crash in Afghanistan, the AP reported “Two U.S. troops die in helicopter crash in Morocco” (April 11, 2012):

Two U.S. Marines were killed and two severely injured in the crash of a hybrid aircraft in Morocco on Wednesday, officials said.

The Marines were taking part in joint U.S.-Moroccan military excercises located in the south of the country based in Agadir, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Rodney Ford in Rabat, who gave the toll.

[…]

The aircraft was participating in a U.S.-Moroccan military exercise known as “African Lion.”

[…]

The MV-22, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Textron Inc.’s Bell Helicopter, is designed to carry 24 combat troops and fly twice as fast as the Vietnam War-era assault helicopters it was to replace.

The Osprey program was nearly scrapped after a history of mechanical failures and two test crashes that killed 23 Marines in 2000. But development continued, and the aircraft have been deployed to Iraq.

While the General Accounting Office questioned the Osprey’s performance in a report last year, the Marine Corps has called it effective.

An Air Force version of the aircraft crashed in Afghanistan in April 2010, killing three service members and one civilian contractor.

The Osprey has been the subject of intense controversy with critics pointing to the exorbitant cost and accident rate, and proponents citing the utility of the aircraft. The Marines have been able to keep the program alive through the rough and tumble budget wars in Washington. The Marines now propose to bring a fleet of Osprey to the Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay and to Takae in Okinawa.

Meanwhile, ABC News reported that the widow of a F-22 Raptor pilot who died in a crash in Alaska is suing the manufacturer for a faulty design that led to the crash, “F-22 Crash Widow Sues Lockheed Martin for Wrongful Death” (March 13, 2012):

The widow of the F-22 Raptor pilot who died after a malfunction in his jet cut off his oxygen system during a training mission in Alaska is suing the F-22 manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, and other major defense contracting companies for wrongful death, negligence and fraud.

Anna Haney, wife of the late Capt. Jeff Haney, filed a complaint in an Illinois court Monday alleging Lockheed knowingly sold the U.S. Air Force “dangerous and defective” planes that did not provide life support systems “that would allow our pilots to survive even routine training missions, such as the one that killed” Haney, according to a report by the Courthouse News Service.

In addition to Lockheed Martin, the suit names other major defense contractors such as Boeing, Honeywell International and Pratt and Whitney — all involved in various aspects of the F-22’s systems — as defendants. The complaint also alleges that the U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin millions of dollars on a new contract to investigate and solve ongoing problems with the planes’ life support systems.

[…]

Capt. Jeff Haney was killed in November 2010 when, after completing a training mission over the Alaskan wilderness, a malfunction in his $143 million plane caused his oxygen system to shut off completely, causing him to experience “a sense similar to suffocation,” according to the Air Force’s investigative report into the incident. Haney’s plane entered a sharp dive and, seconds later, crashed, spreading debris more than a quarter mile.

After more than a year-long investigation into the crash, the Air Force concluded that he was at fault for crashing the plane.

“The [investigation] board president found, by clear and convincing evidence, the cause of the mishap was the [pilot’s] failure to recognize and initiate a timely dive recovery due to channelized attention, breakdown of visual scan, and unrecognized spatial disorientation,” the December 2011 report said, essentially saying Haney was too distracted by the lack of oxygen to fly the plane properly. The report also noted other contributing factors in the crash but said it was still a mystery as to what caused the original malfunction.

In November 2010, the Anchorage Daily News reported “Airforce pilot dies in F22 crash” (November 20, 2010):

The pilot of an F-22 Raptor fighter jet that went down Tuesday during a training flight over Interior Alaska died in the crash, Col. Jack McMullen, commander of the Air Force’s 3rd Wing, said Friday.

[…]

F-22 emergencies

According to the Air Force, there have been four emergency incidents with the Raptor or its prototypes, including three crashes, one of which was fatal.

• March 2009: An F-22 on a test flight crashed about 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The crash killed the pilot, a contractor for Lockheed Martin and a 21-years Air Force veteran. “Human factors associated with high gravitational forces,” caused the crash, according to an accident investigation report.

• September 2007: Loaded with eight small-diameter bombs, an F-22 suffered a brief flameout of both of its engines while conducting a midair roll. Investigators blamed an incorrect trim setting. As a result of the power loss, air traffic controllers briefly lost telemetry signals from the jet.

• December 2004: An F-22 lost electrical power shortly after taking off from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The test pilot, a lieutenant colonel, survived after ejecting just before the jet flipped and skidded across the desert floor. The Air Force ceased F-22 flight operations for 18 days following the crash.

• April 1992: A prototype to the F-22, the YF-22, slammed into an Edwards Air Force Base runway, because of a low approach taken by the test pilot, who ejected safely.

May 9, 2012

Feffer: Small Step Forward in Resolving Okinawa Base Impasse

John Feffer, the editor of Foreign Policy In Focus and a leader with the Network for Okinawa has written an excellent article “Small Step Forward in Resolving Okinawa Base Impasse” (May 3, 2012) that analyzes the implications of the U.S.-Japan deal to move 9000 Marines from Okinawa and distribute them to different locations in the Pacific:

It’s a deal that’s been more than 15 years in the making and the unmaking. The United States and Japan have been struggling since the 1990s to transform the U.S. military presence on the island of Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan.

In preparation for this week’s visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to Washington, the two sides rolled out the latest attempt to resolve what has grown into a major sticking point in alliance relations.

According to the most recent deal, 9,000 U.S. Marines will leave Okinawa, thus fulfilling a longstanding U.S. promise to reduce the overall military footprint on the island. Half of that number will go to expanded facilities on Guam while the remainder will rotate through other bases in the region, including Australia, the Philippines, and Hawaii.

Japan will cover a little more than three billion dollars out of the estimated 8.6-billion-dollar cost of the Guam transfer.

“These adjustments are necessary to realize a U.S. force posture in the Asia-Pacific region that is more geographically distributed, operationally resilient, and politically sustainable,” according to a joint statement issued by Washington and Tokyo.

[…]

Key critics of the process of Pacific realignment – including John McCain, Carl Levin and Jim Webb – remain sceptical of the latest agreement since the review has not yet been completed.

Also skeptical are anti-base activists in the places where the Marine presence will increase.

“Hawaii does not need more military,” says Koohan Paik, a media professor at Kauai Community College.

“There are already 161 military installations in Hawaii, which have resulted in hundreds of sites contaminated with PCBs, trichloroethylene, jet fuel and diesel, mercury, lead, radioactive Cobalt 60, unexploded ordnance, perchlorate, and depleted uranium. And they call this security? The only ‘security’ this brings is economic security to military contractors.”

[…]

The latest U.S.-Japan deal comes at a time of considerable uncertainty regarding military spending. The Pentagon is under pressure to reduce costs in order to meet new spending limits dictated by concerns over rising national debt.

However, the Barack Obama administration’s “Pacific pivot”, announced last year, is difficult to achieve on the cheap. U.S. allies are concerned that they will have to shoulder an increasing amount of the costs of this realignment. Included in this bill will be the cost of upgrading the Futenma facility while Tokyo and Washington debate the base’s future.

May 8, 2012

Military rethinking location of Guam Marine base

With the U.S. changing its distribution of troops moving from Okinawa, Hawai’i is expected to get up to 2700 Marines, while Guam will get less than originally projected. USA Today Reported that “Military rethinking location of Guam Marine base” (May 2, 2012):

The federal government is rethinking where to put a Marine base on Guam now that fewer Marines will be moving to the U.S. territory from Okinawa, Japan.

With fewer troops and families to house, a local Marine base could be smaller than previously thought, Joe Ludovici, the executive director of the military’s Joint Guam Program Office, said Wednesday.

New environmental impact reviews will have to be done:

New draft and final environmental impact statements will be released in 2014. A decision on where to put the base and firing range would come the following year.

And the ancient Chamorro village site in Pagat may yet dodge the bullet(s):

The changes could also lead to a new proposed location for a firing range.

Under the new plan, 5,000 Marines and 1,300 dependents will move to Guam. The old plan included 8,600 Marines and as many as 12,000 dependents.

The military had been planning to build the Marine base on about 680 acres of civilian land in Dededo, in northern Guam.

The firing range was to go on the site of an ancient village, Pagat, also in northern Guam. The Navy began reevaluating this idea last year after a lawsuit alleged it had failed to adequately consider other locations that would affect the environment and historical sites less.

May 1, 2012

9000 Marines to move off Okinawa to Hawaiʻi, Guam, Australia, etc.

As reported in the Washington Post, the Obama administration announced that the U.S. will move 9000 Marines off Okinawa to other locations in the Pacific. While this may have sidestepped a politically volatile issue in its relations with Japan, the problem of the Futenma Base still remains, and the expansi0n of troops and bases in other locations in the Pacific may be spreading the seeds of opposition:

The U.S. and Japanese governments said Thursday that they will move about 9,000 Marines off Okinawa to other bases in the Western Pacific, in a bid to remove a persistent irritant in the relationship between the two allies.

The Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa has been seen by both sides as essential to deterring Chinese military aggression in the region. But the noisy air base’s location in a crowded urban area has long angered Okinawa residents, and some viewed the Marines as rowdy and potentially violent.

This plan will relocate 2700 Marines from Japan to Hawaiʻi. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported “Hawaii must prepare for move of up to 2,700 Marines, Inouye says”:

The U.S. will move as many as 2,700 Marines from Japan to Hawaii as the Pentagon scales back a $21.1 billion blueprint for Guam, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye confirmed today.

“This troop movement will occur after extensive discussions with the leaders of Japan and it highlights Hawaii’s importance as the focus of our national defense shifts to the Asia-Pacific region,” Inouye said.

The Pentagon is expected to announce as soon as tomorrow that it intends to send about 4,700 U.S. Marines now stationed in Japan to Guam, as previously reported, as well as the contingent going to Hawaii, according to two people familiar with the plan, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan hasn’t been made public.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done (in Hawaii) to prepare for their arrival,” Inouye said. “We must build more housing, secure more training areas and improve and expand infrastructure while working with the counties and the state to make certain the Marines transition easily into their new duty station in Hawaii.”

This decision is being leaked in advance of a formal announcement. However, no environmental/social/cultural impact analysis has been done to address securing “more training areas” and develoment to “improve and expand infrastructure”. This is typical of the military decisions in Hawaiʻi: plans are made, studies (when they are done) are written to order to justify the decision, and political bosses make pronouncements as if they were commandments from God. And, just in case anyone had objections or doubts about these plans, Senator Inouye made clear how the people of Hawaiʻi are supposed to respond:

The one thing I am confident of, is that the people of Hawaii will welcome these brave men and women and their families with Aloha,” said Inouye.

In other words, the profoundly sacred Kanaka Maoli concept of “aloha” has been hijacked and turned into a kitsch tourist slogan, whose flip-side is a weapon to silence dissent and suppress political protest.

Jon Letman’s latest article, “Without question: US military expansion in the Asia-Pacific” discussed the U.S. military’s Pacific ‘pivot’:

As Noam Chomsky wrote in this two-part essay, America’s “pivot” toward the Asia-Pacific region is in response to what it calls “classic security dilemmas” posed by the rising influence of China and Russia. Reacting with military programmes and strategies it says are “defensive”, this US “pivot” is perceived as bullying, threats and intrusion – in other words more of the same – by those most impacted by America’s foreign military presence.

The “classic security dilemma makes sense”, Chomsky argues, if one operates under the assumption that the US has “the right to control most of the world, and that US security requires something approaching absolute global control”.

As Letman noted:

Hawaii’s role in all this is enormous. Hawaii represents a fraction of one per cent of the United States’ land area and has just 1.37 million people, but is home to 119 total military sites, making Hawaii effectively a giant floating military garrison from which troops and military hardware are dispatched around the world.

Not a dozen miles from tourist-packed Waikiki Beach is Camp HM Smith, headquarters of the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) which oversees military operations in roughly half the world from the Bering Sea to the Antarctic and across the entirety of the Pacific Ocean as far west as Central Asia, Pakistan and the southern Indian Ocean. Over half the world lives within USPACOM’s “area of responsibility” including China, India, Indonesia, Japan and 32 other countries.

The military bases in Hawaiʻi and the bloated U.S. defense budget has been justified as a jobs creation program: military Keynesianism. But it is a myth that military spending is the best way to create jobs. Letman explored this contradiction:

Rather than question an economy based on weapons, violence and control, the American public largely forfeits any protest in favour of the holy four-lettered word, JOBS. But the argument that the military and defence industry is an indispensable source of jobs is deflated when one reads a study by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst which finds that $1 billion spent on military production creates 8,600 direct and indirect jobs. But that same amount of money invested in clean energy, health care or education could produce between 12,000 and 19,000 jobs.

This, however, is not a debate that is being waged by the wider American public. In fact, like the subjects of our foreign bases, drone warfare and the US military’s impact on people in the Asia-Pacific, it’s largely overlooked. In general, Americans spend little or no time considering the plight of people in other nations – especially small islands – whose land, sea, ports and resources are used to test, train and store US military hardware and personnel. Whatever the costs may be to local populations in terms of environmental damage, social disruption, economic coercion and an increased danger simply by hosting US bases goes undiscussed.

Curiously, despite the fact that in 2011 the US defence budget was well over $700 billion – far exceeding the combined defence budgets for China, Russia, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, the UK and Japan – a recent Rasmussen telephone survey reveals one in four Americans believe the US is still not spending enough of its military.

But as the Asia-Pacific “pivot” brings more testing, training and deployments to accommodate weapons and warriors fanning out across half the world, Americans would do well to pay closer attention to the vast human and financial resources its government demands. The time is long overdue to consider that what we call “defensive” is to so many around the world seen as offensive.

As Bruce Gagnon said just prior to going to Jeju island, “This has nothing to do with defending the United States or its people against attack. It has everything to do with corporate profits and power.”

Relocating U.S. bases and troops is like BP spraying chemical dispersants on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: it only makes the problem sink, spread out and persist. As peoples movements of Ka Moana Nui (the Vast Ocean) have demanded, we demand a reduction of U.S. military foces, the removal of bases and the restoration of people to military-occupied lands.

March 6, 2012

Hawaiʻi premier of “Jam Docu Gangjeong” documentary about Jeju island struggle

Hawai’i Peace and Justice in collaboration with Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking and DMZ Hawai’i / Aloha ‘Aina invite you to come see Documentary Film Shorts “Jam Docu Gangjeong” premiering for the first time in Hawai‘i will be shown at The ARTS at Marks Garage on March 17, 2012 6:30-8 PM in a free screening Light refreshment will be offered. (You can download the announcement and press release.)

“Jam Docu Gangjeong” poster 3-17-12

Gangjeong Mar.17,2012 press release

When the South Korean government decided to build a naval base on the site of Gangjeong Village, a notice was sent out in 2007 and a quick vote taken (measured by applause) with a turnout out of a few dozen residents, out of a population of over 1000 and the measure approved. When the villagers realized what they had agreed to, they booted the mayor out of office, elected a new mayor who opposed the base and have been struggling against proposed naval construction ever since. In a subsequent vote the same year 724 villagers voted against construction of the naval base. Gangjeong Village has been declared a UNESCO World Biosphere reserve, and Jeju island a UNESCO World Natural Heritage. Yet this conflict rages on and its fate may be decided soon. A group of filmmakers created a cluster of shorts that tell the story of the conflict at Gangjeong Village from different perspectives, but also portray the natural unique beauty of the coast of the northernmost semi-tropical island in the world. Banned from theater showings for 40 days by the Korean Film Commission, Jam Docu Gangjeong just recently received approval (January 31st) for showing in South Korea.

An update: Many of you are aware of the crisis on Jeju island at the village of Gangjeong, which was selected as the site for the construction of a South Korean naval base for use by the South Korean and U.S. military. Most likely within the next 24 hours it will be decided whether 400,000 tons of explosives will be dropped on the islet of Gureombi just off the coast by Gangjeong village. Please support the villagers struggling to protect their island from destruction! Here is an action alert that came out today.

Action Alert:

Dear friends,

Thank you for taking action yesterday. Emails made a huge difference.

Today, Governor Woo of Jeju Island demanded postponing the blasting of the sacred Gureombi rocks, but the South Korean Ministry of Defense has refused to comply and is violating Korean law by moving forward in the project without the consent of the governor.

The blast is set for “around March 8,” Korea time. That’s Wednesday for those of us on this side of the Int’l. Dateline.

Several buses carrying dozens of riot police have been shipped in from the Korean mainland to handle protestors anticipated at the blast of Gureombi Rocks. The blast will require 400,000 tons of explosives.

Meanwhile, the S. Korean Ministry of Defense says, “The Jeju naval base is an important national project linked directly to national security. Unnecessary debates and social conflicts should be stopped for the construction to normalize as soon as possible.”

If you have not already done so, please send a letter asap to the following officials to STOP THE BLAST OF GUREOMBI ROCKS! STOP THE NAVAL BASE CONSTRUCTION! Also send your letter to the nearest South Korean embassy. (A list of embassies follows.)

SAMPLE LETTER:

To your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Korea, and to other heads of state, departments and consulates:

People from all over the world are shocked and disturbed that the government of South Korea would consider building a navy base on Jeju Island. It is a moral crime to cover Jeju’s fertile farmlands with concrete, and to destroy its rare, soft-coral reef. The Gangjeong villagers depend on their farms to live, and the planet depends on healthy reefs to live.

Jeju-do is sacred to all the people of the world, not only to the Korean people. Please do not allow Jeju Island to become militarized. If current tensions between China and the U.S. escalate in the South China Sea, if there is a naval base, the first target of attack by China will be Jeju Island. Please stop the militarization of Peace Island.

The South Korean government needs to listen to its people and not build a base to port US Navy Aegis missile destroyers and aircraft carriers. Please protect Peace Island and DO NOT BLAST THE GUREOMBI ROCKS! STOP CONSTRUCTION OF THE NAVY BASE!

Sincerely,

(your name here)

Mr. Kim Kwan-Jin

Minister, Ministry of National Defense

No. 1, Yongsan-dong 3-ga

Yongsan-gu, Seoul # zip: 140-701

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Tel: +82 2 748 1111 / +82-02-795-0071 (in the MND website above)

Fax: +82 2 748 6895 / + 82-02-703-3109 (in the MND website above)

E-mail: cyber@mnd.go.kr

http://www.mnd.go.kr/mndEng_2009/main/index.jsp

Mr. Lee Myung-Bak

President

1 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu

Seoul, 110-820

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Fax: +82 2 770 4751

Email: foreign@president.go.kr or president@cwd.go.kr or president@president.go.kr

Mr. Woo Keun-Min

Governor

The government of Jeju-do

312-1, Yeon-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Fax: +82 64 710 3009

E-mail: jejumaster@jeju.go.kr

EMBASSIES:

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN

New York

korea@un.int

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Los Angeles

consul-la@mofat.go.kr

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Seattle

seattle0404@mofat.go.kr

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

New York

info@koreanconsulate.org

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Houston

con-hu@mofat.go.kr

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Boston

kcgboston@mofat.go.kr

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Honolulu

consulatehi@mofat.go.kr

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

Atlanta

koreaconsulate@gmail.com

Consulate General of the Republic of Korea

San Francisco

consularsf@mofat.go.kr

Consulate Agency of the Republic of Korea

Hagatna, Guam

kconsul@guam.net

South Korea Embassy

Washington, DC

information_usa@mofat.go.kr

Consulate of the Republic of Korea

Tamuning, Guam

kcongen@kuentos.guam.net

March 5, 2012

Inouye says submarine fleet will increase in Hawaiʻi

William Cole reported in the Honolulu Star Advertiser “Subs ahoy: five new subs for Pearl Harbor says Inouye” (March 3, 2012) that despite cutbacks in many parts of the defense budget, Senator Inouye has secured assurances from the Navy that the attack submarine fleet will actually increase in Hawai’i, adding to the largest concentration of submarines in the Pacific:

Navy plans over the next two years call for an increase in the number of submarines based at Pearl Harbor or coming for shipyard work, with up to five more subs being added to Hawaii’s 19-boat fleet, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye’s office said.

Among the additions planned are two more Virginia-class attack submarines — one in fiscal year 2013 and another in 2014, Inouye’s office said.

Over the next two years, Pearl Harbor’s surface fleet total will dip to nine from 11 ships, but the additional submarine presence would make up for it, with 30 ships and subs combined, growing to 31 next year and 33 the year after, the Hawaii Democrat’s office said.

The Navy gave assurances that there will be no negative effects on the shipyard workload over the next 10 years, Inouye’s staff said.

[…]

The Navy plan for Hawaii calls for the retirement of the cruiser Port Royal and an unidentified frigate in 2013, and the addition of one Virginia-class submarine and two other subs — one from Groton, Conn., and the other from Guam, the senator’s office said.

Groton has 16 submarines that are a combination of older Los Angeles-class and newer Virginia-class attack submarines, while Guam will soon have three attack subs.

Fiscal year 2014 would bring a new destroyer, the Michael Murphy, named after a Pearl Harbor-based SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005; the retirement of the cruiser Chosin; and arrival of two subs: one Virginia-class and one unidentified from Groton, according to Inouye’s office.

Meanwhile, Oʻahu based troops will invade Hawaiʻi island for training at Pōhakuloa:

Oahu-based military units will convoy from Kawaihae Harbor to Pōhakuloa Training Area on March 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. via Kawaihae Road, Queen Kaahumanu Highway, Waikoloa Road, Mamalahoa Highway and Saddle Road.