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Makeover to Turn Guam Into Key US Fortress
HAGATNA, Guam - The United States plans to fortify Guam, upgrading its military infrastructure on the island into a strategic staging post that would allow rapid access to potential flash points in the Pacific region.
Two F-22 Raptors and a B-2 Spirit bomber deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, fly in formation over the Pacific Ocean. (U.S Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald) More service members, including 9,182 marines, soldiers and their dependents from Okinawa, will be relocated to this island, as will more than 9,000 transient service ranks, mainly from navy carrier strike groups.
The "overarching purpose" of beefing up Guam as a military fortress is "to provide mutual defense, deter aggression and dissuade coercion in the Western Pacific region, according to a draft impact report recently released by the U.S. Defense Department.
The buildup will allow U.S. forces to respond to regional threats and crises in a "flexible" and "timely manner" as they work to "defend U.S., Japan and allied interests," the study says. "Moving these forces to Guam would place them on the furthest forward element of sovereign U.S. territory in the Pacific, thereby maximizing their freedom of action."
According to the report, the United States envisions Guam as a "local command and control structure" manned, equipped, trained and sustained by a modern logistics infrastructure.
The relocation and buildup cost, including expansion of infrastructure needed to maintain a permanent base for marines and U.S. Army troops on Guam and Tinian, an island 160 km to the northeast, is pegged at $12 billion. Japan has agreed to chip in $6.09 billion of the total.
The plan entails "increased operational activities," more frequent berthing by aircraft carriers and other warships, building aviation training ranges and upgrading harbors, wharves and ports.
Guam's Andersen Air Force Base will be expanded to include marine air elements. A new marine base will be built "right next door," the study says.
The U.S. also plans to expand its live fire training ranges on Tinian, where about 200 or more marines could "realistically train" with their weapons and equipment "without restrictions."
A U.S. Army Air and Missile Defense Task Force is also proposed for Guam to protect the island and U.S. forces there against the threat of ballistic missiles.
The U.S military is beefing up its presence on Guam after allies in the Pacific - the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Singapore - turned down U.S. requests for permanent basing of U.S. forces on their soil.
Already concerns are being raised over plans to transform Guam into "a multiservice military base."
"Some of the areas that they're planning to convert into firing ranges include pristine limestone forested areas that will require some clearing of native forest trees," biologist Jeffrey Quitugua said.
Judith Guthertz, a senator in the Guam Legislature who chairs the military buildup committee, is concerned over "land condemnation or land takings."
"That is a very emotional issue for the people of Guam because of what happened after World War II, where the federal government condemned so much land on Guam. We don't want a repeat of that," she said.
Henry Simpson, general manager of the Guam Racing Federation, said the U.S. military aims to take his race track without even consulting him.
"They want to run over our land," he said.
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Show All"Philippines, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Singapore - turned down U.S. requests for permanent basing of U.S. forces on their soil."
I guess Guam is too small to matter!
"That is a very emotional issue for the people of Guam because of what happened after World War II, where the federal government condemned so much land on Guam. We don't want a repeat of that," she said. (sorry, you have no choice!)
And so, the declining superpower wasted more money and effort trying not only to maintain, but to expand, its reach, not realizing (or caring) that the real enemy was the rot at home ...
As Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, once wrote at the height of his own empire (or when it was just past its high-water mark), “Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.”
As he wrote at the highpoint of the Empire, still it lasted another 300 years after M Aurelius. Empires come and go, but the trick is that M A is right and you can only see where you are in the cycle when looking at the past. I would not count the USA dead or dying yet frankly.
Things move much faster in modern times. The collapse will take far less than 300 years. Possibly in our lifetime. Too many nukes for an external attack to succeed. More likely, we will go bankrupt as the Soviet Union did.
Are things moving faster?
The current, static, post-Vietnam reactionary phase of the US political economy has now been going on for 40 years. Think of all the progress, social and technological, made in comaprable time periods in the past - the first stirrings of the abolition movement to the emancipation proclamation (35 years) , the bloody defeats of the early labor movement to the passage of the New Deal (about 40 years). The Wright Flyer to everyday air travel (30 years), Crude suborbital rockets that blew up half the time to human flight to the moon (12 years).
No, the Empire's not dead or dying yet, John, but as I see it, it's well on the way to demise, and no one in Mordor-on-the-Potomac recognizes this fact, or else they choose to ignore it, in the hope that it'll go away.
It's amazing how our government has plenty of money for projects like this but then pleads poverty when it comes to health care, aid to education, or spending on badly needed infrastructure.
My limited reading of history shows that the Roman Empire took 300+ years to collapse. Assuming that the US Empire peaked in 1945, its' collapse might not be noticeable for another century or more.
That depends on what event you recognize as the collapse of the Roman Empire. Was it the sacking of Rome by the barbarians in the 400s or the conquest of Byzantium (the Eastern Roman Empire) in the 1450s.
History might repeat a bit, but it's never an exact copy. More like the theme, or plot, is the thing that repeats rather than the actual events.
I doubt that the US Empire will last another 20 years, but that doesn't mean that the USA will not be able to survive the end of its empire.
Rhetorical Question: What is the point of funding education and healthcare vs "defence", in USA when angry Muslims are running wild in our cities blowing up buildings and terrorizing our citizens?
100 Angry Arabs will destroy the US government.
"100 Angry Arabs will destroy the US Government"
Can you say 'regime change'?
Long overdue, it will be the chickens coming home to roost.
Poetic justice.
This money should be being spent on transportation and energy conversion here at home. The warped, sick individuals who dream of world control should be committed to mental institutions, not sitting in control of the country in a nameless office in the Pentagon.
It was difficult to respond to this level of idiocy without resorting to profanity. The short sighted fools will probably still be building forts on Guam as the sea rises and drowns them all because they blindly stumble along destroying the very atmosphere by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
building peace is cheaper
peace is not profitable
This is a very favorable slant towards the actual situation.
Japan's new govt is finally listening to Okinawan, and other Japanese, residents about this. It's not as if the US has voluntarily, being the nice, benevolent imperialist it is, decided to leave. I'm sure Japan has some weight now, and the $6 billion dollar payment to help get them out helps as well.
But now those native to Guam are truly fucked. They're already neglected, surrounded by the ugly, decaying American corporate suburban-scape. Now they're going to be incredibly militarized as well, more than it already is.
Let's just hope the military doesn't start burning the children's pet dogs alive like they did on Diego Garcia.
I'm sure they'll get some state-of-the-art golf courses.
This article was written backwards.
The last seven paragraphs should've been first.
Me thinks this was intentional.
What is the elevation of Guam? It could be that global warming will sink the entire project.
Guam, as a U.S. protectorate, has no power. They elect nobody to Congress.
We on Guahan (formally guam) are fully aware of this travesty. What a sham and shame! And now plans are underway to further expand its military empire here and the natives are speaking up to address issues such as our no true representation and 2nd class U.S. citizen status. Please help and support our mission. Go to the website: weareguahan.com for more information.
And Blackwater or Xe or some other no-bid government contractor will be opening the whore houses providing good-paying jobs with wonderful benefits for all of the young girls in that part of the world.........
In addition to the effects described in the article, this move will result in the political empowerment of those in China who would like to devote more resources to their military. The U.S. military-industrial complex will then scream for more of our tax money in response to this Chinese "provocation" and so on. And so on.
After spending a few trillion dollars on this base... Waterworld.
Throwing more good money after a bad idea. Empires are not worth the price they exact on the people who get conquered, nor on the peoples who conquer.
The Brits and other European states that had colonial empires are still paying some of the costs that are associated with having built those empires. Not so much a cost of money anymore, but they do have some colonies that they can't get rid of (if they want to, or not) and they still have to deal with the history of the period and the effects of decolonization had on the people who lived in the former colonies.
Some of the Empires did leave good things behind them when they were gone. The Romans left an excellent road system and while they lasted and were maintained an excellent aqueduct system (some of them still in use today). The English did leave their colonies with some regard for the idea of 'Rule of Law', not with all of them but they did leave the colonies in a better shape than some other European states did.
I'm not sure what the world will say about what is left behind when the us empire collapses. I suspect that it will be as highly regarded as the Belgium, the French or the Spanish Empires were; that is to say, not highly regarded at all.
you can also say that the Romans -
developed and left a LANGUAGE - LATIN - of such excellent clarity and precision that eventually led to many of the just laws still operable even today....
the USA - in contrast - inherited such "clarity" of language and TWISTED it - to make it Orwellian and CORRUPT the language, be it english or "latin law".
Does Obama have any power at all in his government? Or is he merely the ball-rinser for the Pentagon and MIC? What next? Maybe we need a garrison on the Rock of Gibraltar! You can't get more strategic than that! And let's not forget the Cape of Good Hope (he being the candidate of Change and Hope and all that)! And Tierra del Fuego, while we're at it!
Is our base in Paraguay finished?
How far along are our five bases in Colombia?
As Alex Jones says,"The New World Order is close to completion. Watch "Core of Corruption", just google it!
Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski are running the show through their: Council on Foreign Relations, Tri-Lateral Commission, and The Bilderberg Group. Obama is merely a puppet in a cage surrounded by Council on Foreign Relations Members. Even General McChrystal is a member.....
None of the above could care less about the American People, and brown people less than that......The New World Order with Hank and ZB deciding policy. So what if they and the NEO-CONS were responsible for the massacres in Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Iraq with well over 5 million people killed. Wow! Along with the Military Industrial Complex and Oil Industry, they have won!
Getting ready for war with China...
...that's what 9/11 was all about.
“Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski publishes a book [1997] in which he portrays the Eurasian landmass as the key to world power, and Central Asia with its vast oil reserves as the key to domination of Eurasia…’The attitude of the American public toward the external projection of American power has been much more ambivalent. The public supported America’s engagement in World War II largely because of the shock effect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.’, he says. Because of popular resistance to US military expansionism, his Central Asian strategy can not be implemented ‘except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat.’
”
- The Terror Timeline by Paul Thompson p.333
News flash to the misinformed readers of this article. Guam has been a forward US base since WWII. I was stationed there in the early 70's while I was in the US Navy and we had a sizable presence at that time. In case you've been asleep for the last 10 years the worlds supply of fish from our once bountiful oceans will never recover and soon millions, whose livelihoods depend on fishing will be out of a job and hungry and soon on the move due to Global Climate change. Additionally, the world's oil supply has peaked, and what remaining reserves their are are currently being fought over (Iraq, Georgia, Burma, Malaysia, Africa, etc, etc.). Then their are the failed or soon to fail states which would include Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan and China. If it was up to me I would favor a multinational military dictatorship that would address the worlds most pressing problems-and eliminate half the worlds population (perhaps by lottery). Since, this is really far fetched solution I'll stick with the US running the show and I'll lobby for all your sons and daughters to serve in our military-by draft if necessary.
Actually the usa took control of Guam after the Spanish-American war of 1898, the place was a base long before the Japanese occupied the island in 1941.
But that's not really the point of the article. The article is talking about how the existing base on the island is going to be expanded. It ignores the idea that any sea level rise due to global warming would sink those shiny new port facilities. But it does question the expense of building the base...
I do wonder why you don't include the usa in the list of potential failed states. Your unemployment problem is only getting worse, your nation's deficit and unfunded liabilities is well over 60 trillion dollars, and your military has a great deal of trouble in securing any sort of peace since the end of WWII (except for the peace of a grave...).
[If it was up to me I would favor a multinational military dictatorship that would address the worlds most pressing problems-and eliminate half the worlds population (perhaps by lottery). Since, this is really far fetched solution I'll stick with the US running the show and I'll lobby for all your sons and daughters to serve in our military-by draft if necessary.]
Either you're a troll, or you're insane.
Saturnalia, you are absolutely right. The man is clueless.
When I was stationed at Andersen in 1972, Agana was a sleepy town, the island still had a lot of charm to it because the population of military personnel was still relatively small and manageable.
I returned to Guam in 1991 and Agana was full of slick high rises, traffic jams, and overrun with Japanese tourists. Now with the additional troops and US government land grab on this tiny once beautiful island, it will be a disaster for the local inhabitants and for land itself. The number of troops they are purposing to move to this island are not manageable in terms of destroying what is left of the old Guam, so I think you missed the point telling readers here they are misinformed.
But this is nothing new. The American military complex has a history of trampling over cultures under the guise of protecting America and the country they have occupied. The govt. continues to spend billions of dollars the taxpayers cannot afford, who, like those occupied, have no choice in the matter, while the American infrastructure rots away for lack of funds.
Another military garrison in Vicenza, Italy is being built about 2 kilometers from the center of this U.N. heritage site despite the protests of the local citizens. The war base will house an additional 5,000 troops and their families on top of the 7,000 troops and families already stationed nearby. It will severely deplete the local water and electrical resources which the Italian people will mostly have to pay for through higher taxes. The US government doesn't give a damn about these people either.
Such is American imperialism.
As for your other comment: "I'll lobby for all your sons and daughters to serve in our military-by draft if necessary." Will you now? Send your own sons and daughters first, you sob.
" If it was up to me I would favor a multinational military dictatorship that would address the worlds most pressing problems-and eliminate half the worlds population (perhaps by lottery). Since, this is really far fetched solution I'll stick with the US running the show and I'll lobby for all your sons and daughters to serve in our military-by draft if necessary."
-------------
Two things on this:
1. You escaped the mental institution; and
2. I volunteer you, your brothers, your sisters, your daughters, your sons, yo momma and the rest of the family to be eliminated firt.
America is an Empire has been for awhile. Looks like were getting prepared for a War with China doesn't it?
It seems a possibility, but then again, Vladivostok is still an important port for Russia, and we're somewhat skeptical of a united Korea. Alas, one small island, one multi-headed ICBM, one more volcanic top collapsing into the ocean....
Your comments drove a spear straight in my heart. I am a resident of Guam and part of a growing movement to stop this military takeover of our island. Frankly, Guahan (formally Guam)is more than a strategic location or the tip of the spear. It is home to over 100000 people who are not militarily connected and wish to continue living in paradise. The massive military plan is a grave travesty and we need whatever help and support to we can get to strengthen our mission to claim our right to decide what direction our island goes. I encourage you to visit weareguahan.com to get information and to help spread the word about our plight.
I do apologize for the crassness of my comment. I do NOT agree with the imperial nature of the US government, our gun boat deplomacy, nor in using food as a weapon of persuasion. The fact remains that if the US bites off more than it can chew, all the major bases to include Pearl Harbor, Norfolk, San Diego, Diego Garcia and Guam will be major targets, with the most remote most probably being the first hit.
I promise, I WILL visit the site you quote, and wish you luck in your efforts.
excerpt from the article:
""
The buildup will allow U.S. forces to respond to regional threats and crises in a "flexible" and "timely manner" as they work to "defend U.S., Japan and allied interests," the study says. "Moving these forces to Guam would place them on the furthest forward element of sovereign U.S. territory in the Pacific, thereby maximizing their freedom of action."
===============
that's the funniest part...without sense of irony on the USA's part about "US and its Allied Interests"
or "Sovereign US Territory in the PAcific"...
which USA "allied interests?" isnt' that the contradiction to why Thailand, South korea, Philippines, Australia...NO LONGER WANT US PERMANENT BASES in their lands?
which leaves only ON country's interests in the pacific - where it's not really NEEDED nor WANTED..the USA's.
"US Sovereign territory"
?
where? in the PACIFIC? since WHEN did the USA have sovereign rights beyond its BORDERS in california or new york?
this is of course the USA"s way of "encircling" china.
1) through the AF-PAK war and trying to control that "silk road"...
2) starting a new one in Yemen to "overlook" strategically the oil routes between middle east, africa and far east and china.
and part of the Pentagon's "FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE" project.
Make no mistake :
THE USA HAS ALREADY unofficially declared war on CHINA.
I stole this line from Japanfocus.org. It gives an answer to some of the questions others have asked about the impact of moving 80,000 people to Guam (including families)and why Okinawa wants to get rid of some or all of our marines. Guam currently has around 190,000 people on its 212 square miles. That is twice the population that it had when I was stationed there 35 years ago.
"The American high command always characterizes each rape or murder committed by an American serviceman as an isolated "point"—an exceptional "tragic occurrence" committed by a one-in-a-million "bad apple," for which the American ambassador and commanding general profusely apologize. According to Inamine, Okinawans see ... the 58-year-long record of sexual assaults, bar brawls, muggings, drug violations, drunken driving accidents, and arson cases all committed by privileged young men who proclaim they are in Okinawa to protect the people from the dangers of political "instability" elsewhere in East Asia.
I invision a wall, like the one the Iraeli's are building, crossing the island. One side for the U.S. military and the other side for the Japanese tourists.
I urge everyone to research the story of Diego Garcia and John Pilger's documentary of the same called "Stealing a Nation".
Here you will see there is no lie too despicable nor crime too horrific to stop power from getting its way.
Is it worse than what they did in/to Hawaii?
John Pilger: Stealing a Nation
There are times when one tragedy, one crime tells us how a whole system works behind its democratic facade and helps us to understand how much of the world is run for the benefit of the powerful and how governments lie. To understand the catastrophe of Iraq, and all the other Iraq's along imperial history's trail of blood and tears, one need look no further than Diego Garcia.
FIRST BROADCAST ON ITV OCT, 2004
Your comments drove a spear straight in my heart. I am a resident of Guam and part of a growing movement to stop this military takeover of our island. Frankly, Guahan (formally Guam)is more than a strategic location nor the tip of the spear. It is home to over 100000 people who are not militarily connected and wish to continue living in paradise. The massive military plan is a grave travesty and we need whatever help and support to we can get to strengthen our mission to claim our right to decide what direction our island goes. I encourage you to visit weareguahan.com to get information and to help spread the word about our plight.
My condolences to you and your people.
Dear friends in Guam....
Better consult with the local Taliban and/or Hezbollah ambassadors because the US, like its murderous Jewish hemmoroid ally, only understands hot lead.
TheAZCowBoy
Psst, do your chicks wear anything underneith those grass skirts? :)
Stop paying taxes! Stop funding this crap! Bring that stuff home and recycle it. Fund schools and hospitals instead. This is madness!
And who preytell is the US going to "defend" themselves from in the middle of the Pacific? Falling coconuts or giant squid?
Guam: Whooppee, The Great Satan's latest site for starting armageddon in SE Asia.
Interesting, the new Japanese government has told the US hegemon to get the hell out of Okinawa (in nice words, of course) and why not the entire Nippon nation. The South Koreans have asked the Great Satan to get the hell out and let them work with Kim Il Jung to discuss unification of the two Korea's and the Chinese are feeling their tail feathers being ruffled by all the new US' bases that ring the Russians in Tajikistan, Ukranine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbeckistan, et. al. - They couldn't possibly be up to nothing but 'no good,' huh folks?
But, the Great Satan 'just doesn't seem to get it' and the Taliban's current 'Kill the Gringo invaders' project begins to catch fire and the CIA killers of innocents in AF/PAK, Somalia and now Yemen regions with their Predator 'genocide machines' begin to feel the 'bitch slapping of the PAK/Taiban and AF/Taliban in industrial quantities.
I say 'kick ass' Taliban, the US/NATO killers of innocents 'have it coming - BIG TIME!
TheAZCowBoy
Tombstone, AZ.
"Kill 'em all Hezbollah - Let the Hymie's G-d sort them out."