[CPEO-MEF] GLOBAL, EXPANSION: "Proposed US military buildup on Guam angers locals who liken it to colonization"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Proposed US military buildup on Guam angers locals who liken it to colonization
Proposal to bring an additional 5,000 marines to territory already 28% occupied by US military stirs frustrations – but many support the idea in a ‘fragile’ economy


by Jon Letman
Guardian (UK) 
ugust 1, 2016 

Tourists pose for selfies on a white-sand beach, or splash in the aquamarine waters off Ritidian Point, the northernmost tip of Guam, the Pacific island territory “where America’s day begins”.

It’s an idyllic scene, but just out of sight, hidden behind high limestone cliffs, the US military is poised for war.
 
If tensions between the US and China or North Korea ever boiled over into a military confrontation, American forces here would likely be among the first to know: Guam is roughly the same distance from both the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula.

The island is a non-self-governing territory – or as some put it, a colony – whose strategic importance is underscored by the degree to which it is militarized.

Roughly 28% of the island is occupied by the military, and many of the 165,000 inhabitants fear that Guam’s infrastructure will be overwhelmed if plans go ahead to nearly double the US military presence.

Six thousand US military personnel are currently stationed on the island, but a long-delayed expansion plan would involve an additional 5,000 marines (two-thirds on a rotational basis) and 1,300 dependents beginning in 2022.

...

For the entire article, see
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/01/guam-us-military-marines-deployment

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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