Text Fwd: Pressure Builds for US Shift on Okinawa

* Text fwd from Martha Duenas on May 14, 2011

http://www.dispatchjapan.com/blog/
Pressure Builds for US Shift on Okinawa

Pressure is growing on the Obama Administration to significantly alter plans for US Marine basing arrangements on Okinawa, but chances seem slim for a policy shift at least until Defense Secretary Robert Gates departs office late next month.


Several factors have converged to give the issue new urgency. Opposition remains strong on Okinawa to construction of a new facility in the Henoko Bay area, to replace the US Marine Air Station Futenma, which has been slated for closure since 1995. There is simply no momentum in Japan to move forward with the project, a situation made more stark by the Great Eastern Earthquake of March 11. Tokyo is intensely focused on reconstruction efforts; neither the financial nor political capital is available to push the Henoko project through.

Meanwhile, construction delays and cost overruns continue to bedevil a critical, related portion of the plan: the relocation of over 8,000 Marines and 9,000 family members from Okinawa to Guam.

And in Washington, an increasingly debt-weary Congress is asking whether it is worth the cost of building the new Henoko facility and the new Marine housing and related facilities on Guam, when cheaper force configurations more conducive to strategic needs in Asia might be found.

Diplomats are under stress to find some answers because of plans for a “2+2” meeting of defense and foreign ministers from the two countries, to be followed by a summit meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Naoto Kan. With leaders in Japan tied down with reconstruction efforts, no schedule has yet been set for either meeting, though staging both by the end of June has been discussed.


When those meetings do occur, it won’t be possible to simply ignore Futenma and related Okinawa issues. It is very possible Washington and Tokyo will agree to state the obvious: the 2014 deadline to complete the Okinawa and Guam force structure realignment will have to be pushed back. It is also possible the administration will accept a very low-key statement of continued support for the Henoko plan, rather than a high-profile emphasis, so as to avoid the issue returning as a major irritant at the top of the bilateral agenda.


There remain pockets of hope within the Obama administration that White House will force the Pentagon to accept a review of the whole base realignment plan for Okinawa prior to the Obama-Kan summit, but that seems very unlikely.


PENTAGON BOTTLENECK: Secretary Gates remains adamantly opposed, and there does not yet exist within the administration the necessary correlation of political forces willing to force Gates to accept a new approach. The Pentagon’s rigid stance is worsened by the lack of a replacement yet for General Chip Gregson, who retired recently as assistant secretary of defense for Asian affairs.


Senior Pentagon officials continue to say the administration is committed to the Henoko plan. But with the Pentagon leadership in transition, with CIA director Leon Panetta set to take over once Gates departs, the senior officials are exceedingly reluctant to veer from established policy, even if they want to. Officials at this level are in a bind: aware of the opposition in Japan, aware of the enormous investment the US Marines, and US diplomacy, have in the existing policy, but not politically strong enough to even push for, much less win, a policy change.


AWAITING LIPPERT: The White House has tapped Obama confidante Mark Lippert to replace Gregson, but Lippert has been bruised a bit as he works his way through the administration’s internal political gauntlet. Some Pentagon officials have quietly raised concerns that Lippert might have the kind of strained relations with senior military officers that could hinder his effectiveness.


Lippert, who has served in Iraq as a Navy intelligence officer, is “pro-military,” and is known to have functioned as a bit of a window into the US armed forces for then-Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama. But Lippert is not “pro-Pentagon.” Lippert is an international relations major from Stanford University who has served in the military with pride, but is committed to the military as a tool of policy, not out of institutional loyalty. His loyalty is to Obama.


For much of Obama’s first year in office, Lippert served as chief of staff for the National Security Council (NSC). He clashed with General Douglas Lute, a holdover from the Bush administration as “war czar” for Iraq and Afghanistan. He also had tense relations with his nominal boss, then-National Security Advisor General Jim Jones. Critics say Lippert flaunted his close relationship with Obama. But the close tie with Obama is real, and strong, and Obama personally would like to see Lippert overseeing Asia policy for the Pentagon. That is still likely to happen, though those harboring reservations could trip him up.

ASIA POLICY SHIFT: Evidence continues to grow that President Obama and his top aides would like to see a major US strategic shift toward greater emphasis on Asia, which should be particularly evident when the President hosts the APEC summit in Hawaii next November.

It’s notable that in a recent New Yorker analysis of Obama’s foreign policy, NSC director Tom Donilon, deputy director Ben Rhodes (Obama’s long-time chief foreign policy speechwriter), and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell were all quoted outlining just such a strategic “rebalancing” of American foreign policy. The Pentagon’s top policy chief, Michelle Flournoy, outlined a similar policy in a recent talk at Johns Hopkins.

The administration is looking to energize America’s role in East Asia by fomenting a system of open and transparent economic and security cooperation in the region, defining the terms of engagement to which China has to respond. The economic component, for now, is the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional trade initiative. And the security component involves building on America’s traditional bilateral security alliances in the region to include a network of overlapping bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral security relationships from India, through Vietnam and Indonesia, to Australia, and up to Korea and Japan.

Japan is already cultivating security ties with India and Vietnam, and deepening ties with South Korea, including discussion of formal military agreements involving information sharing and the exchange of military goods and services. China and South Korea both provided relief assistance to Japan after March 11, opening the door to expansion of the existing “Plus Three” dialogue between Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing.

Washington is supportive of these steps by Japan, as they indirectly extend the influence of the US-Japan alliance, while providing Tokyo a far greater degree of self-determination than possible through the exclusively bilateral US-Japan security alliance.

THE FUTENMA DILEMMA: The problem Washington faces is that continued focus on the Futenma dispute threatens to distract the US and Japan from this broader strategic goal, allowing a relatively minor base dispute to disrupt the whole alliance. Excess focus on Futenma also detracts from the absolutely critical role played by the naval facility at Yokosuka, where the US home ports the USS George Washington carrier group, and the role of the huge Kadena Air Force base on Okinawa. Together, Kadena and Yokosuka allow the US to project enormous power throughout East Asia, and are the principle means to deter North Korean aggression, and to balance China’s rising military role in the region.

Tokyo continues to insist Japan fully backs the plan for a new facility at Henoko, fearful that admitting the plan is dead will cause tension with Washington. And Washington continues to back the Henoko plan, because no political decision has been made to abandon the bureaucratic status quo.

With no decision yet made to abandon the Henoko project, none of the necessary talks about a new plan can proceed. That leaves the US-Japan alliance dangerously vulnerable to a crisis in the event of a helicopter crash at the Futenma facility, which is surrounded by civilian communities.

CONGRESSIONAL INTRIGUE: Into this bureaucratic quagmire have stepped three senior and very influential US senators: Carl Levin, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee; John McCain, the Ranking Republican on Armed Services; and, Jim Webb, chairman of the Asia subcommittee of Senate Foreign Relations. On May 13, the three senators issued a joint statement calling for the Defense Department to “re-examine plans to restructure U.S. military forces in East Asia.” The senators said the US “strongly supports a continuous and vigorous US presence in the region,” but emphasized that they “believe the current DoD realignment plans are unrealistic, unworkable, and unaffordable.”

While the statement was “joint,” Senator Levin seemed to emphasize the need for restraint, and cost-effectiveness, in defense spending, especially in the construction of new overseas facilities. Senator McCain tended to emphasize strategy, saying: “The Asia-Pacific region’s growing role in the global distribution of power requires us to consistently view and update plans for the U.S. military’s role in the region.” And Webb forcefully challenged the Marine Corps claims that construction of a new facility in Henoko Bay to replace the Futenma air station is indispensable to the Marine presence in, and thus the stability of, East Asia.

Webb brings to the issue years of experience as a Naval Academy graduate, a highly-decorated Marine officer, a military planner, a former Secretary of the Navy, and now almost a full term as a US senator.

With Webb taking the lead, the three senators proposed a dramatic overhaul of the US Marine presence in East Asia. The key elements would include: a) “abandonment” of the Henoko project at Camp Schwab as a replacement for the Futenma facility; b) integration of the Marine Corps assets at Futenma into Kadena Air Force base, while dispersing some Air Force assets now at Kadena to other areas of the Pacific; c) home-basing in Hawaii or at Camp Pendleton the 8,000 Marines now scheduled to redeploy to Guam, and deploy those Marines on a rotating basis throughout the Pacific.

THE JONES ROLE: Most intriguing is that retired Marine Corps General Jim Jones, who was President Obama’s national security advisor until last October, played an important role in helping Webb craft these proposals. It will be difficult for the current Marine Corps leadership to argue to legendary Marine veterans Jones and Webb that their proposals would be harmful to the Marine Corps, and are otherwise operationally unrealistic.

Jones first publicly revealed his apparently evolving views on Okinawa in a meeting last week with a group of Japanese parliamentarians, including former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki (LDP) and Mikio Shimoji, policy research chief for the People’s New Party (PNP). According to Shiozaki and Shimoji, who met with reporters after their meeting with Jones and displayed their written notes, Jones said that he had always thought the best approach on Okinawa was to merge into the Kadena air base the Marine aircraft operations now based at Futenma. The Henoko project was not needed.

It remains unclear what, if anything, Jones did to try to change American policy toward Futenma while he was national security advisor.

THE SKEPTICAL VIEW: Some sources very close to the situation are skeptical that the Obama administration will shift Okinawa policy any time soon. According to this view, it makes sense that the administration would seek to kick the Futenma-Henoko issue down the road a while longer.

Pushing back the 2014 deadline would amount to acknowledging the obvious, and acknowledging the difficulties to proceed so soon after the March 11 natural disasters would also buy more time to find a permanent solution.

But Senator Webb is proposing a wholesale rethinking of American strategy and force structure in the Western Pacific, and only the Secretary of Defense and/or the President himself can make those kinds of decisions. Without that heavy push from the White House, according to this view, it would not be possible to shake the bureaucracy out of its policy rut.

From a strategy standpoint, opponents of a shift in Okinawa policy will argue that it would signal a US retreat from Asia, and reduce the American deterrence of China.

WORKING WITH CONGRESS: But the White House continues to send signals that it is serious about a shiftin strategy toward Asia. A restructured US force posture would not be seen as retreat, but rather an effective region-wide “hedge” in the event China tries to throw its growing weight around in the region. And sources close to Kurt Campbell say that he is convinced that continued US and Japanese wrangling over Futenma will threaten the whole “shift” strategy, because it can’t work without a vibrant US-Japan alliance.

Campbell is prepared to work with Webb and others in Congress on a new basing arrangement for the Marines in the Pacific. Once Panetta takes over as defense secretary, and assuming Lippert becomes his top deputy for Asia, the White House would have in place an administration-wide team to pursue an expanded role in the region.

Text Fwd: WikiLeaks: US Offered SDF Permanent Presence on Guam

* Text fwd from Martha Duenas on May 12, 2011

Japan Times
US Offered SDF Permanent Presence on Guam
Kyodo
May 12, 2011

Guam - Washington has proposed that the Self-Defense Forces maintain a permanent presence on Guam to reinforce Japan-U.S. disaster response training, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

According to the cable, then U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Wallace Gregson said at a bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Feb. 2 last year that the U.S. "seeks the expanded use of Guam" for joint training between the U.S. military and the SDF.

If the plan were to be realized, it would be the first instance of the SDF having a permanent presence overseas.

The cable released by the whistle-blowing website indicated that Japanese officials at the meeting, including Nobushige Takamizawa, director general of the Defense Ministry's Defense Policy Bureau, did not give a clear response to the proposal.

"This joint training, combined with Japan's increased experience with humanitarian assistance and disaster response, such as with the SDF deployment to (quake-hit) Haiti, will demonstrate to the region Japan's ability to react to humanitarian aid situations and improve its national image," the cable said.

"A permanent SDF presence on Guam to support the training would be appropriate," Gregson was quoted as saying.

Japan has sent SDF units abroad for long-term missions to support U.N. peacekeeping and reconstruction in Iraq.

Text Fwd: Return of US forces to Subic possible

* Text fwd by Corazon Valdez Fabros on April 28, 2011http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=333354
Return of US forces to Subic possible

US military build-up in Guam delayed

By Robert Gonzaga
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: April 28, 2011

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — High-level visits here by American officials have raised the prospect of a return of the United States’ military presence in this former naval base in the wake of disasters that hit Japan, which have delayed the planned US military build-up in Guam.


US Senators Daniel Inouye and Thad Cochran visited this free port on Tuesday and met with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Olongapo City officials.


The Philippine Daily Inquirer learned of the visit but was told that it was “not open to press coverage.”


In March, US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. also met with local officials and briefed them about the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on the transfer of US military bases in Okinawa to Guam. The visit was not announced to reporters here.
Inouye and Cochran, chair and ranking member, respectively, of the US Senate committee on appropriations, appeared to be interested in the possibility of an increased presence of the US military in the country, a source present at the luncheon meeting for the visiting senators hosted by Subic and local officials told the Inquirer.


The source, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said: “Their official reason for being here was to obtain a situationer of developments in the area and to consult with local officials about these. They even brought their technical staff. During the discussion, they were curious about the reception in the country of an [increased presence of the US military] here.”


The source also said the US embassy “gave strict instructions that [the media] not be allowed to cover the visit.”


“Their embassy arranged the logistics of the visit directly with Olongapo City [officials], and not the SBMA,” the source said.


Facilities in the free port that can be used by the US military, like the airport and seaport, are intact, according to the source.


“Even now, they are already using it as part of the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement). But if they substantially increase their presence here, then the free port can still accommodate them,” the source further said.


Olongapo mayor for US return


Olongapo Mayor James Gordon Jr. said the senators wanted to see the success of the free port, which the Americans left 20 years ago after the Philippine Senate rejected a treaty extending the stay of US military bases in the country.
“They were amazed by what they saw,” Gordon said.


Asked if he would support a return of the US military in Subic, Gordon said: “Of course, we would welcome it. We want two economies here—the one that is free port-based and the other [which relies on support services] to the US military. They can coexist here.”


He said the Guam build-up would be scaled down following the Japan disaster.
“We are open to the possibility that [the US military] might again use the Subic Freeport,” he said.


The US government approved the relocation of its naval base from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam starting 2012. Guam officials have been visiting the Subic Bay Freeport and Olongapo City to learn from the experience of hosting a naval base.


Gordon, however, declined to give details on the discussions about the US military’s possible return to Subic.


“Your guess is as good as mine. Like investors, they come here but initially don’t tell you what [their real plans] are. But if it’s an enhancement of the VFA … that’s already ongoing,” he said.


Bilateral interest


The US embassy said Inouye was in Manila with Cochran to meet with Philippine officials to discuss issues of bilateral interest.


During their four-day visit, the two American senators also met with President Benigno Aquino III, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, among other officials.


Inouye is a senior senator from Hawaii and the president pro-tempore of the US Senate. For helping pass the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, he has been hailed by Filipino veterans as their “champion” in the US Senate.


Cochran is a senior senator from Mississippi.


The source said the US senators arrived on a US government jet that landed at about 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday at the Subic International Airport where they were welcomed by local officials.
“Then they went on a tour of the Subic facilities. Specifically, they visited the seaport, and the housing areas in Kalayaan and Binictican, as well as [some other areas],” the source said.
After that, the senators and their entourage and military escorts, proceeded to Lighthouse Marina Resort for a luncheon meeting. The US senators left after the meeting that lasted for less than two hours, according to officials present during the visit.


Delays in transfer


Gordon said Inouye and Cochran discussed the delays in the transfer of US bases in Japan to Guam.


“[They cited] not only the disaster in Japan as the reason for that, but also the [political turmoil] in Japan. That country has had a change of at least six prime ministers now since [the beginning of talks for the Guam military build-up]. Also, they are now focused on the [reconstruction] of the disaster-hit areas there,” Gordon said.


Outgoing SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said the possibility of Subic being an alternative site to Guam was “officially not discussed.”


“That sort of talk is above my pay grade. Senator Inouye was instrumental in getting a bill passed into law in the US about Filipino veterans getting compensation and benefits. He told us that the US government made a promise to Filipino veterans and [the US government] has to keep that promise,” he said.


Arreza said Inouye, who last visited the Philippines in 2008 for what the US embassy described as a “learning tour” in Zamboanga City, “was interested about how Subic turned out.”


“They were very impressed because they thought the withdrawal of the US Naval Base would result in [the collapse of the local economy],” he said.


In an earlier interview, Dean Alegado, executive director of the Association of Pacific Islands Local Government Conference, said the disaster that hit Japan “made the fate of the military build-up uncertain, to say the least.”

Text Fwd: Sen. Jim Webb to Visit Korea, Vietnam, Japan and Guam

* Text fwd from Martha Duenas and Jean Downey on April 27, 2011

The State Column
http://www.thestatecolumn.com/state_politics/virginia/sen-jim-webb-to-visit-korea-vietnam-japan-and-guam/

Sen. Jim Webb to Visit Korea, Vietnam, Japan and GuamThe State Column | Staff | Sunday, April 17, 2011

U.S. Senator Jim Webb, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee and member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, will visit the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Guam April 16-29. Senator Webb is scheduled to hold meetings with government officials, U.S. diplomats and military commanders, and business leaders.

In Korea, Senator Webb will review the security situation on the Korean peninsula and reaffirm his support for passage of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.

(ONLY GOOD NEWS) In Vietnam, Senator Webb will address water security issues in Southeast Asia and continue advocating a multilateral approach to avert the devastating consequences of proposed mainstream dams along the Mekong River. If completed, these dams could fundamentally change the world’s 12th longest river and place at risk the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s “rice bowl” and the world’s richest inland fishery.

Senator Webb is returning to Japan for the second time this year after keynoting the New Shimoda Conference in February. On this trip, he is traveling to Tokyo with Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, to reaffirm the critical importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance and express condolences to the Japanese people and government following last month’s earthquake and tsunami.

Senator Webb will also visit Okinawa, Guam and Tinian, as a follow-on to visits he made last year, in order to meet with local officials and American military leaders responsible for the proposed realignment of U.S. military bases in the Pacific region.

Senator Webb has enjoyed a continuous personal involvement in Asian and Pacific affairs that long predates his time in the Senate. In addition to his more recent visits as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has worked and traveled throughout this vast region for more than four decades—as a Marine Corps officer, a defense planner, a journalist, a novelist, a senior official in the Department of Defense, and as a business consultant.

The Chamorro activists and Koohan Paik (who worked at Pacific News Center as a reporter) said not to believe its reports, which slanted to pro-build-up.

__________________________________

See also

Marianas Variety
http://www.mvguam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17773:us-senators-buildup-not-set-in-stone&catid=59:frontpagenews
US Senators: 'Buildup Not Set in Stone'
Therese Hart
Tuesday, April 25, 2011

KUAM News
http://www.kuam.com/story/14512570/2011/04/26/us-senators-discuss-buildup
US Senators Discuss BuildupNick Delgado
Apr 26, 2011 1:41 AM PDT

Text Fwd:Legacies of Pacific Island Militarization Project::Teresia Teaiwa - What Makes Women Soldiers?Context, Context, Context: The Case of Fiji

* Text Fwd from Martha Duenas on April 1, 2011

UCLA: The Legacies of Pacific Island Militarization Project - Postcolonial Theory and Literature Colloquium

What Makes Women Soldiers? Context, Context, Context: The Case of Fiji
Teresia K. Teaiwa, Pacific Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ


Monday, April 18, 2011
5:00-6:30pm
UCLA - University of California at Los Angeles
Royce Hall 314

Senior Lecturer, Pacific Studies
"In the words of Victoria alumnus Albert Wendt, 'Oceania deserves more than an attempt at mundane fact'."

Abstract:

'What makes women soldiers?' Between 2008 and 2010 I recorded a series of oral histories of women currently serving in the Fiji Military Forces (FMF), and Fiji women who had been demobilized from the British Army (BA). The oral histories cover three generations of Fiji women soldiers: a small cohort who had served in the BA between 1961 and 1964; a larger cohort who had been the first women admitted into the FMF in 1988; and then an even larger cohort of women who have been recruited into both forces since the late 1990s. This paper forms the basis of the introductory chapter to a monograph based on the research, and will examine the colonial, nationalist and post/neo-colonial contexts in which each of the cohorts is respectively located. The paper espouses a feminist analysis of women soldiers that is attentive to historical and cultural specificity, and historically specific cultural specificity, moreover.

The work that I'm discussing here represents a shift in my own approach to studying militarism in the Pacific. Instead of trying to understand the militarization of the region from 'without' (as I had done in my PhD research and subsequent publications which involved a cultural studies approach based on reading and contextualizing events and texts), I have tried to understand it from 'within' (by conducting interviews with soldiers and officers); instead of trying to understand how militarization works from its center (through men), I have tried to understand it from its margins (through women). My assumption was that since masculinity and militarism are coterminous, and femininity and militarism are oppositional in certain ideological terms, by investigating how women from Fiji have become soldiers, I would learn more about how militarization works. By considering the changing contexts of women's militarization in Fiji, and by illuminating a case study in which extreme forms of violence do not distract from the analysis with their spectacle, I believe I have.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Professor Teresia K. Teaiwa is a senior lecturer and, from 2000 to 2009, was the founding director of Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Having trained and taught in the U.S. and the Pacific Islands, Teaiwa's interdisciplinary work makes important interventions in the fields of Pacific, postcolonial and women's studies. She is the author of Searching for Nei Nim`anoa, a groundbreaking poetry collection, the spoken word I can see Fiji: sound and performance, and author of numerous articles about Pacific Cultural Studies, gender, and militarization. She is co-editor of New Zealand Identities: departures and destinations http://www.victoria.ac.nz/vup/2005titleinformation/nzidentities.aspx (Victoria University Press, 2005) and Turning the tide: Towards a Pacific solution to aid conditionality (Greenpeace Australia Pacific, 2002). Her recent articles include "Globalizing and Gendered Forces: The Contemporary Militarization of Pacific/Oceania" in Gender and Globalization in Asia and the Pacific (University of Hawai`i Press) and "On Women and 'Indians': The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Militarized Fiji" in Rethinking Security: Gender, Race and Militarization (Rutgers University Press, 2008).

The Legacies of Pacific Island Militarization Project is sponsored by The Burkle Center Faculty Research Working Group Grant, The Humanities Division, The Social Sciences Division, Asian American Studies, American Indian Studies, The Department of English, the Postcolonial Literature and Theory Colloquium, and the Cultures in Transnational Perspective Mellon Postdoctoral Program in the Humanities

Text Fwd: [Guam] Buildup Projects Detailed

Workers of Watts Constructors covers a newly poured form to shield it from a rain shower approaching their precast yard in Agat on March 18. About $1 billion in buildup projects are set to be awarded now that the Programmatic Agreement has been signed. / Rick Cruz/Pacific Daily News/rmcruz@guampdn.com

* Text from Martha Duenas on March 25, 2011

Pacific Daily News
Buildup Projects Detailed
Brett Kellman
March 24, 2011

Nine buildup construction projects that will create Marine facilities in Finegayan, Apra Harbor and Andersen Air Force Base finally can move forward now that the programmatic agreement has been signed.

Yesterday, Naval Facilities Marianas released a statement detailing some of the projects, which amount to about $1 billion in total cost. Projects can now be awarded to contractors, who can begin designing or building complexes that Marines will use when they relocate from Okinawa to Guam in coming years.

"The signing of the PA is an important milestone," said Joe Ludovici, executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, in the statement. "We are looking forward to continuing to work with the people of Guam and the business community to deliver the requirements for the relocating Marines."

All of these projects were funded by either the federal government or the government of Japan in past fiscal years, but their progress hinged on approval of the programmatic agreement. Now the projects have all the funding and approval they need, so the military is ready to award the jobs.

Two projects were awarded last September but they could not begin physical work before the agreement was signed.

Of these nine projects, the most expensive projects will start work on the Finegayan Marine Base, the future home of about 8,000 Marines who will move from Okinawa to Guam.

According to Guam Buildup Office documents, which provided estimated costs for each of the nine projects, about $630 million of Japan government money will be spent to get the base started. This money will pay for two phases of utility installation and "site improvements" in Finegayan.

The first contract will be awarded this summer.

In addition to laying power, water and sewer lines, whichever companies are hired to do this work also will build primary roads, hang street lights, install communication lines and build two checkpoints that will allow access to the base, according online Navy procurement documents.

Andersen

The first phase of the project also includes construction of a new gate at Andersen Air Force Base -- along Route 9 near Machanaonao Elementary School -- which will allow Marines to access a new aviation training complex.

The aviation complex will be at a portion of Andersen Air Force Base called "North Ramp," which already houses Navy helicopter operations but has room for expansion. Ultimately, the Marine complex will consist of about 20 new buildings and about 25 stationed aircraft, according to the final Environmental Impact Statement.

Contracts for the groundwork for this aviation complex -- which consists of utility installation and aviation parking -- will be awarded in April.

These two contacts amount to about $111 million, but they are only the beginning of the money that will be spent at the North Ramp complex.

Final approval of the programmatic agreement also unlocks projects in Apra Harbor, some of which have been stuck in limbo for months.

Apra Harbor

The Guam Buildup Office documents show that the military plans to spend about $213 million on three or four projects -- wharf improvements, a military work dog facility, a waterfront headquarters and a medical clinic.

These facilities are part of a waterfront training complex that will be built in Apra Harbor, where Marines will practice amphibious assaults at least four times a year, for about three weeks at a time, according to the Final EIS.

About a dozen armored amphibious vehicles -- plus inflatable speedboats and reconnaissance rafts -- will be stationed on Guam, the final EIS states. Training sessions could attract larger vessels such as destroyers, cruisers and large amphibious hovercraft that are capable of carrying several military trucks.

Overall, the Marine facilities in Finegayan, Andersen and Apra Harbor have a long way to go, but the nine buildup projects that can now move forward will start work in all three locations.

"We are pleased that the Navy can move forward with some of the initial work," Capt. Peter Lynch, commanding officer of Naval Facilities Marianas, said in the statement. "These projects allow mission-essential infrastructure for the Guam realignment to proceed with a solid agreement to protect the valuable cultural resources on Guam and Tinian and stimulate economic growth in the region."

Text Fwd: Pentagon Takes Aim at Asia-Pacific, and deploys mercenary social scientists

DMZ Hawai'i
Pentagon Takes Aim at Asia-Pacific, and deploys mercenary social scientists
March 14, 2011 by kyle

Recently, versions of the same op ed piece appeared in both Guam and Hawai’i newspapers by James A. Kent and and Eric Casino. Kent describes himself as “an analyst of geographic-focused social and economic development in Pacific Rim countries; he is president of the JKA Group (www.jkagroup.com).” Eric Casino is “a social anthropologist and freelance consultant on international business and development in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.”

The authors argue that Guam and Hawai’i should capitalize on the U.S. militarization of the Pacific and remake our island societies into “convergence zones” to counter China’s growing power and influence in the region. They write:

Because of their critically important geographic positions at the heart of the Pacific, Hawaii and Guam are historically poised to become beneficial centers to the nations of the Western Pacific, the way Singapore serves countries around the South China Sea. In the 19th century, Hawaii was the “gas and go” center for whalers. In the 20th century it was the mobilization center for the war in the Pacific.

The writers even invoke the uprisings in the Arab world to encourage Guam and Hawai’i citizens to step up and take the reins of history:

Citizen action has shown itself as a critical component in the amazing political transformation sweeping the Middle East. It is time to change the old world of dominance and control by the few — to the participation and freedom for the many. The people of Hawaii and Guam will need to navigate these historic shifts with bold and creative rethinking.

“Change the old world dominance and control by the few – to the participation and freedom for the many”? You would think that they were preaching revolution. But its quite the opposite. In the Guam version of the article, they attempt to repackage the subjugation of the peoples of Guam and Hawai’i as liberation, part of the neoliberal agenda of the upcoming APEC summit:

The opportunity to capitalize on these trends is aligned with the choice of Hawaii as the host of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November.

Furthermore they encourage the people of Guam and Hawai’i to partake in and feed off of the militarization of our island nations while denigrating grassroots resistance:

The planned move of a part of the Marine Corps base must take place in a manner that builds Guam into a full social and economic participant in the power realignments and not just a military outpost for repositioning of American forces. Citizen unrest in Guam would sap U.S. energy to remain strategic and undermine its forward defense security.

So, while they exhort the people of Hawai’i and Guam “to navigate these historic shifts with bold and creative rethinking,” in the end, they are just selling the same old imperial and neoliberal arrangements imposed by foreign powers that the people of Hawai’i and Guam have had to contend with for centuries.

So what is the point of the op ed? It makes more sense when you understand the history and context of the authors. Both Kent and Casino are part of James Kent Associates, a consulting firm that has worked extensively with the Bureau of Land Management to manage the community concerns regarding development of natural resources in a number of western states. In 1997, the Marine Corps hired JKA Group to help counter resistance from the Wai’anae community to proposed amphibious assault training at Makua Beach, or as they put it to help “sustain its training options at Makua Beach in a cooperative manner with the community, and to be sure that community impacts and environmental justice issues were adequately addressed. JKA engaged in informal community contact and description by entering the routines of the local communities.”

They were essentially ‘hired gun’ social scientists helping the military manipulate the community through anthropological techniques:

Prior to JKA’s involvement, the NEPA process was being “captured” by organized militants from the urban zones of Hawaii. The strategy of the militants was to disrupt NEPA by advocating for the importance of Makua as a sacred beach. As community workers identified elders in the local communities, the elders did not support the notion of a sacred beach-”What, you think we didn’t walk on our beaches?” They pointed to specific sites on the beach that were culturally important and could not be disturbed by any civilian or military activity. As this level of detail was injected into the EA process, the militants were less able to dominate the process and to bring forward their ideological agenda. They had to be more responsible or lose standing in the informal community because the latter understood: “how the training activity, through enhancements to the culture, can directly benefit community members. Therefore, the training becomes a mutual benefit, with the community networks standing between the military and the activists.”

So community members active in the Native Hawaiian, environmental and peace movements are “organized militants from urban zones of Hawaii”? The military uses similar language to describe the resistance fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a way, their methods anticipated the use of anthropologists in the battlefield in the “Human Terrain System” program.

What they don’t report on their website is that they failed to win over the community. Opposition to the Marine amphibious exercises was so strong that PACOM hosted an unprecedented meeting between Wai’anae community leaders on the one hand and CINCPAC, the Governor, and other public officials on the other. As preparations were made for nonviolent civil resistance, CINCPAC canceled the exercise in Makua and moved the amphibious landing to Waimanalo, where the community also protested.

It seems as though JKA Group has been contracted by the Marines once again to help manage the community resistance to the military invasion planned for Guam and Hawai’i. So the people of Hawai’i and Guam will have to resist this assault “with bold and creative rethinking.” One such initiative is the Moana Nui conference planned to coincide with APEC in Hawai’i in which the peoples of the Asia Pacific region can chart our own course for development, environmental protection, peace and security in a ways that “change the old world dominance and control by the few – to the participation and freedom for the many.”

On the topic of the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region, I recently spoke with Korean solidarity and human rights activist Hyun Lee and community organizer Irene Tung on their radio program Asia Pacific Forum on WBAI in New York City.

http://www.asiapacificforum.org/show-detail.php?show_id=221#610

Pentagon Takes Aim at Asia-Pacific
Listen to this segment (Download MP3)
Last month, the Pentagon unveiled the first revision of the National Military Strategy since 2004, declaring, “the Nation’s strategic priorities and interests will increasingly emanate from the Asia-Pacific region.” Join APF as we discuss the implications of the new document.
Guests

KYLE KAJIHIRO is Director of DMZ Hawaii and Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee in Hawaii.

Text Fwd: We Are Guåhan - Fight to Save Pågat Village Far From Over

* Text fwd from Martha Duenas on March 10, 2011

Pacific News Center
"We Are Guåhan" - Fight to Save Pågat Village Far From Over

News Release
Thursday, 10 March 2011 08:13

Guam - "We Are Guahan has released the following statement in reaction to the the signing of the Programmatic Agreement Wednesday:

DoD’s plans to build 5 firing ranges at the area surrounding Pågat Village were approved by Governor Calvo yesterday. The signing of the Programmatic Agreement (“PA”) allows DoD to begin work on its $7.2 million dog kennels, military wharf improvements and behind the fence infrastructure projects. These projects, along with approximately 150 other construction projects, were put on hold because DoD was unwilling to reconsider its decision to “acquire” more land around and above the ancient village of Pågat for its firing range complex.

The signing of the PA shows that 6 months after the Record of Decision, DoD still refuses to consider any location other than Pågat Village for the site of its 5 firing ranges. These violations of law are the basis of the lawsuit filed by We Are Guåhan, the Guam Preservation Trust and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The fight to save Pågat Village did not end yesterday. DoD will have to answer for breaking the law in court,” says Attorney Leevin T. Camacho, a member of We Are Guåhan. “The signing of the PA does not change that."

The PA remains silent on what DoD considers to be “Pågat Village” or how DoD plans on giving safe access to the area with .50 caliber machine guns being fired overhead. “At some point, we all have to ask ourselves: what kind of Guam do we want to leave for our children and for our grandchildren,” says We Are Guåhan member Cara Flores-Mays. “Times may be hard. But there is no amount of money that can buy back our land or our culture.”
__________________________________

See also

Pacific News Center
Programmatic Agreement Signed
News Release
Wednesday, 09 March 2011 14:28

Stars and Stripes
Guam, US Military Agree on Plan to Build Firing Ranges on Ancestral Land
Travis Tritten
March 9, 2011

Video Fwd: [Guam] Pagat Point

Minagahet Chamorro
Monday, March 07, 2011
Pagat Point

Where I spent my weekend. A cool video from Leevin below.

Site Fwd: The Asia-Pacific Journal on Okinawa & Guam: Exposing Impracticality of Military Expansion Plans & Exploding the "Deterrence" Myth

* Text fwd also from Martha Duenas on March 1, 2011

Ten Thousand Things blog:
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Asia-Pacific Journal on Okinawa & Guam: Exposing Impracticality of Military Expansion Plans & Exploding the "Deterrence" Myth

(Half-completed military buildup housing project disrupts the skyline of a neighborhood in Guam. The contractor, Younex, is facing questions about impacts on Northern Guam water resources and its relationship with permitting agencies, including the Guam Land Use Commission, and a court decision that voided a zoning variance. The South Korean construction company halted work on these luxury condominums intended for sale to buildup carpetbaggers after the Korean government ordered banks to suspend further loans to the financially struggling main contractor, Hanil Corp., last summer. Photo: Matt Wei, Marianas Variety)

U.S. military expansion projects in Okinawa and Guam have faced nonstop local opposition; allegations of corruption between construction companies and governmental agencies; and environmental and historic preservation issues, since they were announced. Two new articles from The Asia-Pacific Journal examine the unraveling of these plans and their shaky ontological basis.

Michiyo Yonamine's "Economic Crisis Shakes US Forces Overseas: The Price of Base Expansion in Okinawa and Guam":

While questions are raised in Washington on the roles of Marines, US and Japanese governments are proceeding with plans to build new USMC facilities in Northern Okinawa.

...the overwhelming majority of American scholars and experts I interviewed (Mike Mochizuki, George Washington Univ.; Morton Halperin, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; Richard Samuels, MIT; Barry Posen, MIT; Andrew Bacevitch, Boston Univ.) believed that it was impossible to relocate to Henoko, and that the Marine Corps in Okinawa no longer plays any role in US military strategies...

Given US plans to strengthen the bases on Guam, including transferring the Okinawa Marines there, it has no resources to spare to intervene in other countries. In September the DoD announced it would postpone completion of the transfer originally planned for 2014 due to lack of preparedness on Guam. The infrastructure cannot cope with the sudden influx of the Marines, their families and construction workers...

The US military’s pattern of extending bases in accordance simply with their perceived military and strategic value, without any understanding of local circumstances, history and culture, is precisely what is happening in Okinawa. Regarding the construction of replacement facilities in Henoko, Japanese and US governments say that this is ‘not construction of a new base but relocation to the pre-existing Camp Schwab’; but since they are constructing runways where there was nothing before, extending the base in this way is the same as what is occurring on Guam. The US government’s argument that “the transfer to Guam is not progressing because the Futenma issue is stagnating” can no longer be accepted. This is a situation unique to the US. And if the delay is due to domestic circumstances in the US, packaging Guam with Futenma will not work. Four and a half years on since the 2006 announcement of the restructuring of US Forces, the agreement is coming apart at the seams.




(U.S. Marines have not engaged in any amphibious assaults since World War II (except for training). Recent disembarkment of 14 Marine amphibious assault tanks on Henoko's beach damaged coral and disturbed the feeding area of the critically endangered Okinawa dugong, angering Okinawans, who consider Marine training in Okinawa an assault on their natural environment.

Norimatsu Satoko's "Hatoyama's Confession: The Myth of Deterrence and the Failure to Move a Marine Base Outside Okinawa":

In a joint interview held in Tokyo on January 31 and February 8 with the two Okinawan papers and the Kyodo News Agency, former Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio conceded that he had just given “deterrence” as the factor necessitating retention of the US Marine Corps on Okinawa (and hence the building of a new Okinawa base for them) because he needed a pretext.

Text Fwd: 2011 Special Committee on Decolonization - UN Secretary General::"Colonial Situations Are Completely Outdated"

* Text fwd from Martha Duenas on Feb. 27, 2011

Overseas Territories Review
27 February 2011
"Colonial Situations Are Completely Outdated" - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General
SG/SM/13412
GA/COL/3216

"Completing decolonization will require concerted efforts on the part of of all concerned."
Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the opening of the 2011 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, in New York, 24 February:

I am pleased to join the Special Committee as it begins its work for 2011.

This year marks the beginning of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. Let us focus our attention on accomplishing concrete results with the involvement of all concerned: the Special Committee, the administering Powers and the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Last December, we commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly. On that occasion, I appealed to the international community to realize the full spirit of the Declaration, which called for “the immediate and complete elimination of the colonial system in all its forms and manifestations”, in keeping with the principles of the United Nations Charter. The Special Committee has a crucial role to play as the intergovernmental body exclusively devoted to advancing the United Nations decolonization agenda.

Today, 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories remain on the list, awaiting constructive, results-oriented initiatives. On a case-by-case basis, those Territories have to be given the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination in order to take the interests of their peoples fully into account. Colonial situations are completely outdated and must be addressed with renewed vigour and creativity.

Last year, in my report to the General Assembly on the “Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism”, I recalled that the Assembly had requested the Special Committee to continue to seek suitable means for the immediate and full implementation of the Decolonization Declaration. In practice, this would mean that the Committee could assess its past work and achievements in order to chart a way forward, together with the administering Powers, for the ultimate benefit of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Your current work on devising a plan of action for the Third International Decade, and the forthcoming 2011 Caribbean Seminar on Decolonization, might prove instrumental in that regard. It is my hope that difficulties encountered in the recent past will gradually be overcome, thereby strengthening the Committee’s determination to develop effective formal and informal modalities that would help it accomplish its mandate.

The completion of the process of decolonization will require the concerted efforts of all concerned: first and foremost, the Special Committee, the administering Powers, and the peoples in the Non-Self-Governing Territories. Dialogue aimed at improving cooperation between the Special Committee and the administering Powers continues to be of utmost importance.

The Secretariat will spare no effort to assist the Committee in its work. But this can be no substitute for the choices, decisions and actions expected of the Special Committee.

I wish you every success in your important endeavour.
____________________________________________________________________________
Electing New Chair in Unprecedented Secret Ballot, U.N. Decolonisation Committee Members also Approve Timetable, Organization of Work

Addressing the first meeting of the 2011 substantive session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for “concrete results” in the quest for self-determination by the world’s 16 remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Those results could only be achieved through the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, including the Special Committee, the administering Powers and the peoples of the Territories, he said. “On a case-by-case basis, those Territories have to be given the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination,” Mr. Ban added, emphasizing that dialogue aimed at improving cooperation between the Special Committee and the administering Powers continued to be “of utmost importance”.

In an unprecedented action this morning, the Special Committee (on Decolonisation) held a secret ballot to elect a new Chair. Out of 25 recorded votes, Francisco Carrion-Mena ( Ecuador) received 15 to become the new Chair, replacing Donatus Keith St. Aimee ( Saint Lucia), who won 10 votes.

The Special Committee also elected, by acclamation, the following Bureau members: Pedro Núñez Mosquera (Cuba) and Rupert Davies (Sierra Leone), Vice-Chairs; and Bashar Ja’afari (Syria), Rapporteur.

Speaking after the elections, Mr. Carrion-Mena called for “reinvigorated multilateralism” in global decolonization efforts. “Decolonization is a tough challenge, but not one that should be impossible,” he said, noting that the United Nations membership had swelled by 93 Member States in the last 50 years. Pledging to push for the decolonization of the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories, he described his election as a positive testament to the “liveliness” of the Special Committee and its search for a higher profile.

Delegations then took the floor in support of the Special Committee’s work, with Cuba’s representative emphasizing that Puerto Rico, which was not on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, also needed the Special Committee’s support.

Papua New Guinea’s representative said it was through the Special Committee that many nations had been born, something of which all its members could be proud. However, the administering Powers could and should be more proactive in helping the Territories under their jurisdiction realize their rights, he added.

Syria’s representative, speaking in his national capacity, congratulated the new Chair, saying his election “breathed new life” into the Special Committee’s efforts. Despite its good work in recent years, however, it was shameful that there was still a need to liberate non-self-governing peoples, he said, appealing for an end to that chapter of history.

The Special Committee also heard brief statements by representatives of India, Indonesia, Congo and Saint Lucia.

In other business, the Special Committee approved, by consensus as orally amended, resolutions and decisions relevant to its work, as contained in a note by the Secretary-General (document A/AC.109/2011/L.1); and the organization of its work, programme of work and timetable (document A/AC.109/2011/L.2).

It also invited the delegations of Argentina, Spain and Tajikistan to participate in its deliberations as observers.

The Special Committee, also known informally as the Committee of 24, is the focal point for the implementation of the Decolonization Declaration. Its current 29 members are: Antigua and Barbuda; Bolivia; Chile; China; Congo; Côte d’Ivoire; Cuba; Dominica; Ecuador; Ethiopia; Fiji; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Mali; Nicaragua; Papua New Guinea; Russian Federation; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sierra Leone; Syria; Timor-Leste; Tunisia; United Republic of Tanzania; and Venezuela.

Remaining on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories are Western Sahara, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Montserrat, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos, United States Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, American Samoa, Guam, New Caledonia, Pitcairn and Tokelau.

The Special Committee will reconvene at a date and time to be announced.

Text Fwd: $474M for Insular Areas in Obama Budget

* Texts informed by Martha Duenas on Feb. 16, 2011

Marianas Variety
$474 Million for Insular Areas in Obama Budget
Therese Hart
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 00:55

President Barack Obama released his budget proposal to Congress for Fiscal Year 2012 and earmarked $474.4 million to support U.S. Insular Areas and Freely Associated States, according to a press release from Tony Babauta, Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas, Department of the Interior.

The current appropriations request includes $59.5 million in discretionary funding, $27.7 million in mandatory funding and a $10.1 million transfer from the Department of Defense for vehicles and supplies for the transportation of civilian students on Guam, according to a press release from Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Tony Babauta’s office.

In addition, $377.1 million in permanent and indefinite appropriations is estimated for 2012 for fiscal payments mandated by law to U.S. territories and Freely Associated States.

The $59.5 million slated for discretionary programs under the 2012 budget request will address a variety of technical assistance and facilities maintenance programs in the U.S.-affiliated island communities. The 2012 budget makes noteworthy investments to bolster energy security in the insular areas and address impacts anticipated as a result of the planned relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam within the Department of Defense.

“The 2012 budget request demonstrates President Obama’s continued commitment to the well-being of the U.S. insular areas while remaining fiscally disciplined,” said Assistant Secretary Babauta.

“Among the strategic investments we are making, we are proposing to take big strides toward helping the insular areas implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in assessments funded by OIA in 2010,” he said.

“In addition, the budget proposal reflects our commitment to addressing the impacts of the U.S. Marines’ relocation to Guam,” Babauta explained.

“These funds demonstrate strong interagency collaboration in support of the President’s commitment to a ‘One Guam’ approach to managing the relocation and will be used to purchase public safety equipment and fund technical assistance projects that help the local government better serve the civilian community.”

The 2012 budget proposal will also support efforts to control the invasive brown tree snake on Guam, assist coral reef conservation initiatives, and support the operations of the American Samoa Government.

Current mandatory appropriations of $27.7 million will continue to be used to undertake capital improvement projects (CIP) that create economic opportunity in U.S. territories and improve the quality of life in those communities.

Breakdown

With these funds, American Samoa is scheduled to receive $10.1 million in CIP funding, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands $9.5 million, Guam $6.1 million and the U.S. Virgin Islands $2.0 million.

Permanent appropriations for 2012 include $145.0 million in payments to Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Guam is slated to receive an estimated $45.0 million in taxes collected in the territory via the IRS ”mirror” code that are by law transferred to the Government of Guam to support its public safety, health care, education and other services and operations.

The U.S. Virgin Islands is scheduled to receive an estimated $100 million for Federal taxes collected on distilled spirits in the territory that are by law transferred to the local government to support its operations. The budget includes $232.1 million in payments to the Freely Associated States under the Compact of Free Association legislation including $67.1 million for the Republic of the Marshall Islands and $105.5 million for the Federated States of Micronesia.

On September 3, 2010, the United States and the Government of Palau successfully concluded their review of the Compact of Free Association and signed a 15-year extension agreement that includes a $250 million package of assistance through 2024.

Under the agreement, Palau committed to undertake economic, legislative, financial, and management reforms. The conclusion of the agreement reaffirms the close partnership between the United States and the Republic of Palau. A legislative proposal was transmitted to Congress on January 14, 2011 for its consideration; therefore, OIA is not requesting current appropriations for Palau Compact assistance in 2012.

The President’s budget reflects many difficult budget choices, cutting worthy programs in order to fund the highest priority requirements, and advancing efforts to shrink Federal spending while being mindful of ongoing commitments, said Babauta.



_______________________________
KUAM News
Oversight Hearing Held on Buildup
Lannie Walker
February 15, 2011

Marianas Variety
US House Bill May Cut $321M from Guam Military Construction
Therese Hart
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 12:00AM

KUAM News
Pågat Lawsuit to Be Heard in Hawai'i

Marianas Variety
Timeline Set for Pågat Suit
Jennifer Naylor Gesick
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 00:54

Text Fwd: Prutehi yan Difendi...We Are Guåhan, Historic Preservation Trust in Courts to Protect Pågat

* Texts fwd from Martha Duenas on Feb. 14, 2011

Hafa Adai!

Tomorrow is the first hearing for the lawsuit to stop DoD from turning Pågat Village into a firing range complex-- and the oversight hearing at the Legislature on the Programmatic Agreement. It is a great day to show your love for Pågat, and for Guam!

We Are Guåhan is encouraging everyone to wear a "Prutehi yan Difendi" sticker showing your support for the lawsuit- and put stickers on your family, friends, coworkers and anyone you see.

You can pick up stickers TODAY at the University of Guam, English and Communications Building room 118F (Professor Offices area) between 1 and 4 pm. If you need help finding the office, please call 735-2747.

To get stickers tomorrow, please come to the Programmatic Agreement Oversight Hearing at the Legislature at 9:00am. This is a very important hearing. This hearing is meant to clear up the extremely specific statements made by DoD officials regarding the future of Pågat Village, as well as Guam’s other cultural resources.

One of the statements made by a DoD official was that Pågat Village is not a “pristine area” or “culturally sensitive area.” We Are Guåhan recently accompanied PNC news on a tour of the area to see whether these statements were true:

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=C1ISaikzqDk

DoD officials have also stated that they will not be firing their machine guns “into the ocean” or “into Pågat Village.” These statements ignore the fact that bullets and fragments from the 5 firing ranges may land in Pågat Village and the ocean.

Come to the Oversight Hearing tomorrow at the Guam Legislature Public Hearing room! Wear your sticker all day! Take pictures of yourself, friends and family wearing them, and send them to us at action@weareguahan.com. We will compile the pictures we receive in a great collage for everyone to enjoy.

Si Yu'os Ma'ase,

We Are Guahan
__________________________________
See also

KUAM News
DoD Seeks 60-Day Stay Break in Pågat Lawsuit
Mindy Aguon
February 13, 2011


Pacific News Center
Law Authorizes Purchase of Gun Beach Lot, But Ownership of Property Still in Dispute
Clynt Ridgell
Monday, 14 February 2011 17:19
CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE & VIDEO REPORT:


Pacific News Center
Monday's Hearing on Human Remains Measure Canceled Because Bill #1 Needs Revision
Kevin Kerrigan
Monday, 14 February 2011 10:35

Text Fwd: Respicio Wants a Philippine Labor Attache Stationed on Guam / Freshman Senator Concerned About Alien Labor

* Text sent from Martha Duenas on Feb. 10, 2011

Pacific News Centre
Respicio Wants a Philippine Labor Attache Stationed on Guam
News Release
Tuesday, 08 February 2011 14:11

Guam - Senator Rory Respicio has written to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, following up on a 2009 request for a labor attaché from the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment to be stationed in Guam to oversee the needs of guest workers employed on island for the military buildup.

The Senator expressed concern that since Guam will be the focus of the on‐going $15B military buildup, we need a labor attaché to be assigned here in Guam to deal with the expected increase of foreign workers coming from the Philippines.

Read Respicio's letter to Secretary of State Clinton

In his letter, Senator Respicio points out the original request for a labor attaché was made two years ago by former Senator Frank Aguon to then‐Philippines Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque. “I echo the good Senator’s sentiments,” said Respicio, “Senator Aguon’s request was prompted when several Filipino laborers had an unfortunate experience with their employer, and left Guam.”

Respicio opined that while no further incidences of this nature have occurred, there are other urgent matters we’re faced with now, which will increase over time, with particular regard to health care and health and life insurance which must be addressed quickly.

“As buildup related projects progress, the shift toward regulation, oversight and enforcement of buildup activities is becoming increasingly more critical,” said Senator Respicio, who chairs the Committee on Human Resources, dealing with labor‐related issues.
_________________________________________
See also
KUAM News
Freshman Senator Concerned About Alien Labor
Nick Delgado
February 5, 2011

Marianas Variety
Full Transition Reports (in PDF)
REPORT Community and Social Welfare
Safety
Political Status External Affairs
Infrastructure and Land
Healthcare and Mental Healthcare
Guam Buildup Economic Development
Finance
Expansion and Military Build-up
Education
Customer Service and Government Operations
Culture and Tourism
Department of Corrections.

Text Fwd: VIDEO: At Least Two More Latte Sites Found Within Pagat

* Video source: same as the link
_________________________________
* Text informed by Martha Duenas on Feb. 9, 2011

Pacific News Centre
At Least Two More Latte Sites Found Within Pagat
Clynt Ridgell
Monday, 07 February 2011 17:31

Guam - JGPO and DOD officials have promised to allow 24/7 access to the trail to Pagat caves and the ancient Pagat village. However, the cave and the ancient village that DOD is referring to isn't the only cultural, and historical site in that area. PNC followed members of We are Guahan this weekend to see two other latte sites that DOD and JGPO have not made mention of.


Members of “We Are Guahan” have said that the Pagat cave, the ancient Pagat village, and the trail to the cave aren't the only historical or cultural sites in the Pagat or Rt.15 area. So we decided to follow them into the jungles of Pagat to see for ourselves. The hike down to the cave is steep after the caves the trail continues on to the ancient Pagat village. UOG professor Mike Bevaqua stopped at a lusong (grinding stone) and said, "As you walk on this trail you can see a lot of different artifacts such as this basalt lusong right here there was a limestone lusong back there up ahead there's latte so south of here you've got dozens of latte and then to the north there's more latte as well and so this is the trail that most people take down here and most people think that Pagat is that cave and that natural arch when in truth Pagat it extends there was hundreds of people that lived down here there are fifteen different sets of latte that we've found and there are probably more out here.”

A latte set is the set of latte stones left from what was once an ancient Chamorro house. Some ancient Chamorros presumably chiefs or those of the higher classes built their houses on stone pillars called latte stones. Lusong are ancient grinding stones used to grind medicinal plants and food. Although DOD has promised to allow 24-7 access to this particular site of lattes stones and lusong, Bevacqua says it still may be in the range of stray bullets. "This what is in most people's minds and DOD's mind is the basis of Pagat really they don't really think of it as expanding further north than this so that's why they're basically saying you can still come to Pagat all you want cuz they'll be firing up there not down here although technically this is still in their danger zone,” said Bevaqua.

Maps of the proposed firing range in the FEIS show that the surface danger zone extends over the ancient Pagat village. From the Pagat village the trail continues on to the coastline where the limestone rocks create a natural arch. From here we hiked north up the coastline till we reached a bluff and a native limestone forest. Just a few feet inside the forest is another ancient Chamorro latte site.

We saw no trash in this area it was however littered with artifacts. Even areas away from the latte sites were covered with pottery shards complete with designs or etchings in them, clam shells, scrapers, sinkers and other tools were also found throughout the area. "If DOD considers Pagat to be the latte site next to the natural arch and the cave then this latte and the six or seven others in this area are not part of Pagat and all of the pottery shards all of the shells all of the lusong then their not part of Pagat either,” said Bevaqua asking, "I guess according to them it's okay to fire over here or it's okay to block this place off because this isn't culturally historic or this isn't significant." We asked Bevaqua "Right here where we're at at this latte site what's due west from here?” He replied saying, “Rt. 15"

The entire area is filled with native plants and trees. For example Fadang, Lumot or native moss that is used by locals to decorate nativity scenes, and Nunu or Taotaomona trees also known as Banyon trees in English.

We continued to hike inland from the coast towards Rt. 15. Once we reached an overlook on the Cepeda Ranch We are Guahans Leevin Camacho paused to say, "I think if you're not from here this may not look pristine but for those of us who appreciate the beauty of our island and the ocean coming up here I mean who would want to build a firing range on the bluff above here to build a target right next to this scenery here. Not only is this area where our ancestors used to live not only does DOD have more than enough property to build the ranges on it's own within it's footprint but again who would want to disturb this with gun fire?”

The Rt.15 or Pagat area also includes the Cepeda ranch which is a CLTC ranch as well as some privately owned properties.

[Jeju Update] Jeju reflected in a Guam site 제주, 괌 사이트에 반영됨

* Image source: same as the source
'Pagat, Guam' '패이같, 괌'
_________________________________________
* Michael Lujan Bevacqua in Guam thankfully reflected the story of Gangjeong village with that of Pagat village in Guam in his recent blog. He casts an important question and here I copy part of his as the below.
* 괌의 마이클 루잔 베박쿠아는 고맙게도 그의 최근의 블로그에서 강정 이야기를 괌의 패이같 마을에 반영하고 있읍니다. 중요한 질문을 던졌으며 그의 블로그 일부분을 아래와 같이 복사합니다. 전체 블로그는 여기를 클릭
________________________________________

Minagahet Chamorro
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Life and Death in Gangjeong


There has been much talk recently over the cultural and historic properties in the Pagat area of Northeastern Guam, and where exactly Pagat begins and ends. Last weekend and this past weekend I went with members of We Are Guahan into the northern section of Pagat to see what artifacts we could find. Although we weren't the first to find them, we found quite a bit of latte and lusong, which I'm sure I'll be writing about very soon on this blog.

The issue of historic relics and cultural artifacts reminds me of the current situation in Gangjeong Village, on Jeju Island in South Korea. Although the villager of Gangjeong have been fiercely resisting the creation of a military dock there which will be used by both US and South Korean Navy forces, the construction and hence the destruction of parts of the coast and the land in Gangjeong have already begun.

As usual, the blog where you can find the most update to date info on this (which is graciously translated into English by the author) is No Base Stories of Korea, which is where I found the video below, as well as a poem which was written recently by the son of a Gangjeong Villager describing his anguish over what is happening on their coast.

Whenever large military projects are undertaken, whether it be a Naval Base in Jeju or a firing range near Pagat, there are a number of important and obvious questions which are sadly rarely ever asked, usually because of some vague, abstract and more wishful than anything hope for some economic boost or boom. In the case of Gangjeong, while I was there last year, one simple question which every villager asked but which no one wanted to answer, was why use such rich and fertile land to build a base? The area where this Navy base will be built is so abundant in water that the villagers say it was the first place where their ancestors were able to plant rice. Why would you want to use something which can be so important in providing life, to create a place which is so invested in death? For those who have been paying attention, while few are claiming that Pagat is rich agricultural lands, the similarity should still be clear.

See the full blog

Text Fwd: Speaker Judi Won Pat Weekly Radio Address

* Text informed by Martha Duenas on Feb. 4, 2011

Pacific News Centre

Speaker Judi Won Pat's Weekly Radio Address

Bob Gaeth

Wednesday, 02 February 2011 08:31

Guam - Speaker Senator Judi Won Pat with the first Speakers weekly radio address.

JUDITH T. WON PAT, Ed.D.
CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES
I MINA’TRENTAI UNU NA LIHESLATURAN GUAHAN 31st GUAM LEGISLATURE

The Guam Legislature met with the Under Secretary of the Navy Robert Work and with other ranking officials from the Department of the Navy to again discuss the military build-up.

It was very clear to the Senators present in the meeting that the United States Military remains steadfast on their path to create a firing range complex in Pågat.

So that I am clear, let me repeat that the Department of Defense is moving forward in its plans to build a firing complex. They will fire their weapons, including submachine guns and grenades, directly over an ancient Chamorro village and burial grounds in the Pagat area.

Your Senators voiced their opposition to this firing range complex. We made it clear to all concerned that we will stand firm in protecting and promoting the culture, heritage, and natural resources of the People of Guam.

In the effort to keep open lines of communication between the executive and legislative branches of government, I’ve met with Governor Calvo on two separate occasions to talk about progress that we’ve made, to find common footing, and to address any differences with respect to public policy and law.

While it is true that there are areas where we disagree, we also agree on many things; one of which is education. I was pleased to hear in Governor Calvo state in his Monday Address that he plans to be proactive with education— and that he knows that throwing money at the issue is not the solution.

As the Speaker and Committee chair on Education, I have consistently been working toward a safe and nurturing learning environment, and greater accountability that will safeguard the use of your tax dollars while also increasing the quality of education for our students. I look forward to working with the Governor to achieve these goals.

This effort for the next term--and the next decade—will take all of us. As your Senators engage in appointee confirmations and public hearings on bills and resolutions, please participate. Come down to the public hearing room at the legislature. Testify on matters that are important to you. Watch us live on MCV Channel 13 or GTA Channel 21. Your civic participation is vital for the health of our community.

The leadership of the Guam Legislature is committed to maintaining the momentum we’ve generated since the inauguration and I look forward to again sharing our progress in the next radio address. I know that every person listening to this address loves our island and is willing to work hard to make it better. This is the place where our discussions begin, and the place where they must return when we are done.

Si yu’us ma’ase.

_______________________

See also

KUAM News
JGPO Chief Tries to Debunk Buildup Myths
Lannie Walker
February 3, 2011

Pacific News Center
Senator Pangelinan Calls DoD's Promise of a "Net Negative Footprint" a "Farce"
Kevin Kerrigan
Friday, 28 January 2011 17:24


Pacific News Center
Senators React to Jackson's Speech: "Buildup Isn't Just About Money"
News Release
Thursday, 03 February 2011 19:42


Pacific News Centre
VIDEO: JGPO Director Respects Differences, But Suggests There Are Misconceptions
Clynt Ridgell


KUAM News
Names Sought for Guam First Commission
Mindy Aguon
February 1, 2011
Thursday, 03 February 2011 17:37

Video Fwd: Hafa Na Liberasion #19: Reoccupation Day

Minagahet Chamorro (No Rest for the Awake) blog
Hafa Na Liberasion #19: Reoccupation Day
Jan. 27, 2011



______________________________________________
Also in Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes blog

LIBERATION WORDS FROM GUAM
Jan. 28, 2011

Text Fwd: Okinawa Assembly Vice-Speaker: Okinawa & Guam have much in common

* Text fwd by J. D. on Jan. 29, 2011


KUAM NEWS
Okinawan officials on fact-finding mission
Posted: Jan 27, 2011 1:16 AM Updated: Jan 27, 2011 3:04 AM
by Nick Delgado

Guam - Another delegation with the Okinawa Prefecture Assembly is on island. As a matter of fact, this is Assembly vice speaker Yoshikazu Tamaki's third visit to find out the specific issues surrounding the relocation of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

Yoshizaku says Japan still hasn't received the more than $400 million in funding from the U.S. Government. He added like Guam communication is a problem. "It's basically we can say that Guam's peoples voice is not heard to the federal government and Okinawa's voice is not heard to the Japanese government, that's the one of common ground both Guam and Okinawa have," he explained.

In the meantime, Speaker Judi Won Pat tells KUAM News they learned that more than 75% of the people of Okinawa don't mind the Marines that are anticipated to relocate actually staying in their country, however she says they still have reservation about the Futenma base remaining there. (Okinawans want Futenma to close and no new construction at Henoko).

The delegation met also with Governor Eddie Baza Calvo and Lieutenant Governor Ray Tenorio.

Pacific News Center

Calvo, Tenorio Talk Buildup with Okinawa Assembly
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 21:06

Written by News Release Thursday, 27 January 2011 17:50
Guam News - Guam News

Guam - Talks to turn the military buildup into a Guam buildup continued this afternoon, with a meeting between five members of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly and Governor Eddie Baza Calvo and Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio.

The delegation was led by Vice Speaker Tamaki Yoshikazu.

“We have come to realize we have lots of similarities. There are similar problems in the relationships between Okinawa and Japan and Guam and the United States,” he said.

The assembly members discussed issues surrounding the relocation of Marines to Guam, including timelines, Pagat village, and public sentiment.

“I will continue to push for a mutually beneficial conclusion between the U.S., Japan, Okinawa, and Guam,” Governor Calvo told the delegation. “To be clear, I will also remain firm on keeping the federal government responsible and accountable to the promises it has made to improve the quality of life for Guamanians, return land to our people, and respect the sanctity of our ancestors.”

Text Fwd: Okinawan Prefectural Assembly Delegation tells Speaker Judith Won Pat they are still v. opposed to mega-base at Henoko

* Text Fwd by J. D. on Jan. 27, 2011

Pacific News Center
Okinawan Prefectural Assembly Delegation Visits Lawmkaers
Written by Clynt Ridgell Thursday, 27 January 2011 17:04
Guam News - Guam News

Guam - A delegation of Okinawan prefecture members is on Guam as part of a fact finding mission.

The delegation met with lawmakers this afternoon in speaker Judi Wonpat's conference room. According to Speaker Wonpat the Okinawan legislators told her that Okinawans are still very opposed to the movement of the Futenma marine air base to the northern part of Okinawa. She says they indicated that progress on that move may be stalled. "They're saying that as things slow there they will definitely slow down here as well,” said Speaker Wonpat.

The move of Futenma has been called the lynchpin the the japan us realignment agreement that would send 10 thousand marines and their families to Guam.