Page 1 of 4 Fortress Guam resists US military buildup
By LisaLinda Natividad and Gwyn Kirk
United States presidents rarely visit the US territory of Guam (or Guahan in
the Chamorro language), but President Barack Obama may visit in June 2010. This
will be a significant stop for residents of this small island, 48 kilometers
miles long and 13 kilometers wide, dubbed, "Where America's day begins".
Guam is the southern-most island in the Northern Mariana chain that also
includes Rota, Tinian and Saipan. It is the homeland of indigenous Chamorro
people whose ancestors first came to the islands nearly 4,000 years ago. Formed
from two volcanoes, Guam's rocky core now constitutes an "unsinkable aircraft
carrier" for the United States military in the words of Brigadier General
Douglas H Owens, a former commanding officer of Guam's Andersen air force base.
The reason given for Obama's unprecedented visit to the island was given in a
White House conference call by Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for
strategic communications, as this:
While there he'll not only visit
with commanders but also with local Guam authorities. And he's going to make
sure that we have a very realistic and sustainable and well thought out
approach to Guam. He has a vision which we refer to here as "one Guam, green
Guam," which is apropos of many of the questions heretofore, designed to make
sure that we're investing in capabilities on Guam that are sustainable over the
course of time, that are clean energy focused, that do take very concrete steps
to reduce the high price of energy on the island, and obviously will lead to an
end state that's politically, operationally, and environmentally sustainable.
So the president, while there, will also take a hard look at the project and
infrastructure needs on Guam. We'll obviously be looking at base-related
construction that must take into accounts (sic) the needs of not only of an
increased troop presence or Marine presence, but also the needs of the people
of Guam, the impact on the environment, and the important role that the United
States plays within the region ... I'd rather just make clear that we have a
commitment to the people of Guam, and that as part of our ongoing plan for our
presence in the region, are going to make very common-sense and important
investments in the infrastructure there.
Barely mentioned in
the shadows of these fine words with their emphasis on sustainability are the
real reasons for Obama's visit: to rally community and official support for the
Department of Defense plan to relocate 8,600 US Marines from Okinawa (Japan) to
Guam, provide additional live-fire training sites, expand Andersen air force
base, create berthing for a nuclear aircraft carrier, and erect a missile
defense system on the island.
Despite their economic dependence on the US military, which occupies one-third
of the island's landmass and dominates the island's economy, people in Guam
have expressed strong opposition to the proposed enormous increase in the US
military presence on economic, environmental, and cultural grounds. Due to
Guam's status as an unincorporated US territory, however, local communities are
highly constrained in their ability to influence the political process.
Indeed, they were not even consulted when the expansion plans were developed.
Jon Blas of the coalition We Are Guahan stated, "We have not been able to say
yes or no to this. Hawaii said no. California said no. But we were never given
the opportunity." After more than a century of US control, the justification of
military development for purposes of "national security" has been widely
accepted by most island residents, many of who rely on the military for jobs
given the lack of alternative employment.
However, following the release of the Department of Defense's (DoD's) Draft
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in November 2009, which for the first
time revealed details of the proposed military build-up, community members
started to question the enormous sacrifices they are being ordered to make in
the name of "national security".
The situation is complicated by the fact that the United States proposal is
contingent on the willingness of the recently elected Democratic Party of Japan
(DPJ) government to honor the previous administration's agreement to relocate
an established US Marines base from a dense urban area in Okinawa to a new
facility on a coastal site at Henoko in northern Okinawa.
The former Japanese government had agreed to contribute $6 billion towards
construction of the Henoko base and the relocation of marines to Guam. The
incoming coalition government was successful at the polls partly due to
campaign commitments to review the US-Japan military alliance in general, and
the base construction in particular. Some members criticized Japan's
acquiescence toward US foreign policy; others resented the US "occupation
mentality".
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Obama made hasty visits to Tokyo last fall,
invoking the importance of the alliance and pressing to keep the Okinawa-Guam
accord intact. Indicative of the turn in opinion, some Japanese media bristled
at this "bullying" and "high-handed treatment".
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced that his government would make its
decision on the Futenma relocation issue by December 2009, later deferring a
response until May 2010. In a March 3 interview with the Asahi Shimbun, Richard
P Lawless, former deputy under secretary of defense for Asia-Pacific affairs,
who was involved in negotiating the agreement with Japan, expressed frustration
that "the Japanese government seems intent on playing domestic politics and
doesn't fully understand the magnitude of the issue".
Under steady US pressure, the Hatoyama government in early May abandoned its
resistance to the Henoko plan. The question remains, however, whether it is
prepared to impose its will on an Okinawan population which strongly opposes
the new base. Meanwhile, Guam's congressional representative, Madeleine
Bordallo, who fervently supported the military build-up as the primary way to
boost Guam's weak economy, has moderated her position with a range of
stipulations as a result of the outpouring of pubic testimony at town hall
meetings, public hearings, community events, and in media reports. This article
examines the issues of base expansion on Guam and assesses the movement against
military expansion on Guam.
History of Guam
Archeological evidence indicates that Guam's indigenous Chamorro people first
arrived in these islands around 2,000 BCE. Chamorros lived in coastal villages
where they fished, farmed, and hunted to sustain themselves. They were skilled
navigators who traded throughout Micronesia. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan
in the Marianas in 1521 marked the first contact with the Western world. In
1565, Spain sent an expedition to claim Guam for the Spanish Crown and in 1668
Father Diego Luis de San Vitores started a Catholic mission. This foreign
influence, with attendant violence and epidemics of diseases, decimated the
local population.
For 250 years, Spanish galleons plied between Asia, Europe and the Americas,
carrying silks, spices, porcelain, cotton, and ivory from Manila to Acapulco,
the viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico). These goods were then transported
overland to Vera Cruz and loaded onto ships for Spain. On the return journey,
cargo included Mexican silver, Spanish administrators, missionaries, and
provisions for the garrison in the Marianas. En route from Acapulco, the
vessels replenished supplies of food and water on Rota and Guam.
Spain remained Guam's colonizer until the conclusion of the Spanish-American
War. Under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and
the Philippines were ceded to the United States. Spain sold the Northern
Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands to Germany, thus separating Guam
politically and culturally from neighboring islands in the Marianas and
throughout Micronesia. President William McKinley placed Guam under the
jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy, which used the island as a
refueling and communications station.
During this time, naval admirals served as governors and most administered the
island as though they were running a ship. The naval administration also
regulated land acquisition, the sale of liquor, marriages, taxation,
agriculture, and schooling. An old military plan to put Chamorro people on
reservations in the north and south of the island, leaving two-thirds of the
land for military use, did not materialize. However, people's demand for
citizenship was denied as an encroachment on military control.
On December 8, 1941, Japanese warplanes bombed US military installations on
Guam, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese forces took the
island two days later and renamed it "Omiya Jima". For 31 months the people of
Guam were subjected to hardship and atrocities inflicted by the Japanese
Imperial Army; including forced labor to build runways, incarceration in
concentration camps (such as Manenggon), executions, slaughter, forced
prostitution, and rape. Chamorros resisted the Japanese invasion and, in
allegiance to the US, assisted in hiding an American soldier, George Tweed,
from Japanese forces for the entire occupation period. Recollections of World
War II experiences evoke tears and trauma memories for most war survivors to
this day.
Hailed as "liberation forces," US troops landed on Guam on July 21, 1944 after
thirteen consecutive days of naval bombardment in which thousands lost their
lives.
The bombing, followed by fierce combat, ravaged the island, and the main city
of Hagatna was virtually destroyed. As soon as the US military secured Guam,
they turned the island into a strategic forward base for the final push toward
Japan. As was occurring in Okinawa at approximately the same time, thousands of
acres were taken for the construction of naval and air force facilities and
many Chamorros were dispossessed of their ancestral clan lands (such as the
village of Sumay) and moved to neighboring locations designated by the US
military.
Political and economic status
The Organic Act of Guam passed by the US Congress in 1950 made Guam an
unincorporated territory of the United States with limited self-governing
authority. The Organic Act placed Guam under the administrative control of the
Department of the Interior. With a current population of approximately 173,456,
Guam is one of 16 non-self-governing territories listed by the United Nations,
and represented by one non-voting delegate in the US Congress. Residents are US
citizens but not entitled to vote in presidential elections.
Federal-territorial policies are decided in Washington, 7,938 miles (12,774
kilometers) away, placing a number of restrictions on the island and hampering
the development of a viable civilian economy.
Prior to World War II, Guam was self-sufficient in agriculture, fishing,
hunting, and husbandry. US Naval administrators encouraged food production for
local and military needs. Nearly every family grew vegetables and produced
meat; some specialized in fishing; and there was a viable copra - dried coconut
- industry.
Following World War II, the military took a large portion of arable land to
build bases and other installations, equivalent to nearly 50% of the island's
landmass, including some of the most fertile land near popular fishing grounds.
Since then, some lands have been returned following civic protest, with the US
presently occupying nearly one-third of the island, part of which is not
presently being used. Currently, nearly 90% of Guam's food is imported.
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