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Looks like there\u2019s some sort of protest movement underway on Guam, one of our westward military bases in the Pacific, as well as on Okinawa.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.guampdn.com\/story\/news\/2017\/10\/25\/okinawa-women-join-fight-protect-ritidian-stop-militarism-guam-and-okinawa\/797174001\/<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n A small group of Guamaians don\u2019t want the military there, despite the fact that the island is a US protectorate and the US military does provide income to the locals.<\/p>\n While Japan and the US are engaged in a co-operative effort to upgrade military bases on Okinawa, the local residents are concerned about how it will affect them.<\/p>\n A similar program of upgrading the military base on Guam to accommodate 5,000 Marines is underway. Transferring the Marine Corps from Okinawa to Guam will begin in 2020.<\/p>\n The contention by one of the Japanese residents of Takae, Okinawa is thus: \u201cSince bases and live fire training ranges are built to prepare for future wars, it is without a doubt that residents of Okinawa and Gu\u00e5han will be exposed to irrevocable harm,\u201d Ashimine said. (See article above)\u00a0 Now, you do reasonably have to ask if Ashimine is even vaguely aware of the damage done to Okinawa during Operation Iceberg in 1945. Some of these archival photos clearly show that the island\u2019s forest was almost completely destroyed by that warfare. Nature has an amazing way of replacing and repairing over a long term all the damage we humans do in the short term. \u00a0You may find these archival photos interesting: \u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/scout.com\/military\/warrior\/Article\/33-Photos-From-the-Battle-for-Okinawa-101458847<\/a><\/p>\n There is a group of residents of Takae on Okinawa whose concerns are that a helicopter may crash on someone\u2019s house. Construction on the helipad base in that area began in 2006. I can understand their concerns, but construction of the helipad base started 11 years ago and they\u2019re protesting now?<\/p>\n At any rate, these ladies of the No Helipad Society have traveled to Guam to assist a small group of Guamaians in their protest against more militarization. The Guam group Save Ritidian, now protesting further militarization, also seems to be blithely unaware of Guam\u2019s history. Since January,\u00a0 Save Ritidian has opposed the live fire training range complex to be built above Ritidian, on Andersen Air Force Base. For them, it\u2019s about the environment of Ritidian and its surrounding lands, such as Yanbaru Forest, that are at risk, including Guam\u2019s major source of fresh water, the\u00a0 Northern Guam Lens Aquifer.<\/p>\n Again, I think that these well-meaning people are either unaware of the history of Guam and the US during WWII, or they have chosen to ignore it. But as you may recall, the Japanese had seized what was then a US-protected territory, the island of Guam, and had parked 19,000 members of the Japanese Army there.\u00a0 This video from Youtube is about 45 minutes about the Battle of Guam in 1944, where the US regained its island territory. \u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aEuCEODNyQM<\/a><\/p>\n I do understand these things, because for years, a major source of concern where I live now was PCBs in the water being retrieved from the lakeshore harbor, which is now a major recreational site. The cleanup took some time, but it has been completed, and trout are caught there occasionally in the summer. And I live near a very large military base with active duty people who frequent a restaurant I go to occasionally, as I explained previously:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=71528<\/a><\/p>\n That means that I live in what used to be termed a ‘target area’, just as my home town was because of its railyard and its heavy equipment, tire and electronics factories.<\/p>\n We are facing constant threats against us from all corners of the world by people who want to annihilate because we exist. The bone of contention of both these groups is that we should be pressing for peace. You can almost hear \u2018at all costs\u2019, can\u2019t you? What they seem to miss completely is that if you are not preparing for war waged against you, then you end up with Pearl Harbor being bombed or two skyscrapers and other buildings being crashed into by hijacked planes, and you will have no peace – ever<\/em>.<\/p>\n So while I understand the concerns of the protest group on Guam, I have to wonder if they realize or even vaguely understand what might have happened to them if the US had not retaken the island of Guam from the Japanese.<\/p>\n Simply put, they might not be here today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"