[CPEO-IRF] Principi compares closure to tsunamis

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[In view of the overwhelming impact of the Indian Ocean tsunami, I find 
the base closure comparison - cited in the article below - exaggerated 
and offensive. If there is a need to make a "Storm Stories" comparison, 
base closure is at worst a major thunderstorm likely to spawn multiple 
tornados over a wide area. We know ahead of times that the base closures 
are coming. We just don't know where. And as GAO points out, recovery, 
though difficult, will happen. - LS]

Military Base Closings Will Sting, Panel Chairman Says

By ERIC SCHMITT
New York Times
May 4, 2005

WASHINGTON, May 3 - The chairman of the independent commission that will 
review the Pentagon's list of recommended military base closings warned 
Tuesday that the impending decisions would be "tsunamis in the 
communities they hit."

The chairman, Anthony J. Principi, a former secretary of veterans 
affairs, also promised to provide a "clear-eyed reality check" of the 
Defense Department's decisions to shutter or shrink military bases 
around the country.

Highlighting the economic impact that base closings can cause, the 
Government Accountability Office issued a report on Tuesday stating that 
communities that lost bases in previous years were "continuing to 
recover" and had regained about 85 percent of the civilian jobs that 
were lost.

The report said that most affected communities were faring well when 
compared with the average American unemployment and income-growth rates, 
but it added, "The recovery process has not necessarily been easy.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/04/politics/04bases.html

--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org


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