Open Letter to US Army Regarding Decision to Destroy Hawaii
Public Affairs Office
US Army Environmental Command
Building E4460
5179 Hoadley Road
Attention: IMAE-PA
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5401
PublicComments@aec.apgea.army.mil
To the person in charge of making the decision where to place the 2/25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team,
I would very much enjoy speaking to you from the heart… but I know that would be a total waste of my time - and yours. We all know that the US military does not base any of its decisions on affairs of the heart, mind, nor conscience either, for that matter.
I could go on and on about why you should not place the Stryker Brigade in Hawaii. It is the very last place in the world where it should be stationed… and I could name all of the reasons you already know quite well. We could, if you were actually made of flesh, blood and tears, talk about the excessive noise and how this noise will impact the children who live near the construction projects and will hear the live-fire training.
I used to visit my parents when they lived near a military training range. Let me tell you that when you are on your back porch trying to enjoy a glass of iced tea and relaxing conversation? The resounding BOOMS of military live fire can be most disquieting to grown adults. Can you only imagine the unsettling impact live-fire training noise might have upon small children and the beasts that live within earshot of your firing ranges? But then again, I’m sure these trivial matters – such as being able to live a good, decent, and peaceful existence – is of neither concern nor significance to you.
We could, if you honestly cared, mull over in our minds the actual impact of adding 4,000 extra military soldiers, and even greater numbers of family members who will accompany them… and explore what it might mean to add nearly 10,000 more people to these affected bases. We could then ponder together extra societal infrastructures needed for this population onslaught, such as new libraries and schools. We could also enjoy a long and serious discourse about the loss of rich Hawaiian culture - and their precious spiritual and ancestral heritage.
If you would consider your actions with some amount of sensitivity we could discuss the unfathomable harm caused by wildfires due to “live fire training,” and the destruction of tens of thousands of acres of still yet- to-be-spoiled – and often sacred - land.
If you were to actually listen with a caring heart, we could go over the reasons for not stationing the 2/25th in Hawaii. Together we could review the increased pollution to air, water, and soil, the fact that you will render airborne chemically toxic and radioactive Uranium in the soils at Pohakuloa Training Area and Schofield Barracks - and probably at Makua Military Reservation, too.
I could then write to you to beg you to consider the impact of your decision upon umpteen various rare, endangered, and threatened plant and animal species, and the fact that you are helping to sicken the fish, the wildlife, and the vegetation that the indigenous people depend on in order to survive.
I would say these things if I thought you would only listen and care – even just a little bit. But why bother?
If you made your decision based on what is right for the Hawaiian people? Then you never, ever would have gone ahead with the current devastating military occupation of Hawaii. If you gave even one whit about what is best for humans and living things on the Hawaiian Isles? Then you never would have completed some of your Stryker-related construction projects and done work on others to the tune of over $700 million-plus in eventual construction-related expenses.
If you were concerned even just a tiny bit about the residents of Hawaii, you never would have gone to tremendous time, trouble and expense to train the soldiers, bring the equipment there, and start all the preparations you could… that is, of course, if you gave even one dang about the good indigenous people who call Hawaii home.
You are not taught to feel, as you are an integral part of the bloody, gory orchestration of US war-making everlasting. All you know about is how to make war and how to prepare young people to make war with you. The extent of your education and your decision-making prowess involves only how to train young people to go about killing other humans who have done nothing whatsoever to harm any of you.
If you had a heart and a conscience this would trouble you greatly. But you do not, so we must find another way to somehow make you think about this.
Your employer has chosen you purposely, put you in your current career position to ensure you could make decisions based on winning wars (and thus creating casualties, whether American or enemy or both). Without even knowing who you are (and I am quite aware that the public affairs officer reading this and tallying objections for the public record is not the decision maker), undoubtedly, you have been entrusted to make this decision and, again, whoever you are - you are quite good at what you do.
You make decisions based on where to best train your soldiers. Where you are doing the training is only important with regard to how it will impact the troops’ training. The needs of the people and other forms of life that surround your military sites, however, are neither relevant nor seriously considered in the scheme of your goals. So the entire Environmental Impact Statement is merely just a formality, a farce, a total waste of time and taxpayer money.
