... is a front-page story about the US military's redeployment to Guam, a US territory - and how bringing 79,000 people (mainly Marines and their families) to the island could severely damage the environment and sewer and water systems.
Among the highlights:
"Many families have members serving in the armed forces; among the 50 states and four territories, this island regularly ranks first in recruiting success. Guam's killed-in-action rate is about four times as high as on the mainland...
Led by the Marines, American forces liberated the island in 1944, and people here say they still feel a debt to the United States. To repay it, they proudly call their island the "tip of the spear" for projecting U.S. military power in the Far East...
"We don't mind being the tip of spear, but we don't want to get the shaft," said Simon A. Sanchez II, chairman of Guam's commission on public utilities.
Showing posts with label Guam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guam. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Blaine's latest... from Guam
Blaine's two stories from Guam were also in the paper this week. The paper got its money's worth out of that trip!
His story in today's (Sunday's) paper is about Guamanians' patriotism as Americans and determination to sign up for the US military (Guam is a US territory).
The island has a high rate of soldiers killed-in-action in Iraq, but the families of those killed don't doubt the Iraq mission. Quite sad stuff.
Agnes Rillera, the mother of Army Maj. Henry San Nicolas Ofeciar, who was killed in Afghanistan last August, told Blaine: "The pain of his death I will take to the grave," she said. "But I respect my son's decision to serve. You tell Washington that we support what he did."
---
Earlier this week, the WaPo ran his entertaining piece about how the US military is moving thousands of Marines to Guam, which will shift the American military posture in Asia.
The lede is classically, cheeky Blaine:
Guam Braces for Peaceful Military Incursion
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 25, 2008; Page A01
HAGATNA, Guam -- People on this faraway island -- a U.S. territory 7,824 miles west of Los Angeles -- delight in calling Guam the "tip of the spear" for its role defending U.S. interests in the Far East.
Although the island is typhoon-plagued and earthquake-prone, cursed with bad traffic, unable to cope with its own garbage and overrun with invasive tree snakes that have eaten nearly all the birds, the Guamanians aren't just blowing smoke.
The Pentagon has chosen Guam, a quirkily American place that marries the beauty of Bali with the banality of Kmart, as the prime location in the western Pacific for projecting U.S. military muscle...
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The "beauty of Bali" may be generous overstatement, though Guam was a nice place for a holiday.
His story in today's (Sunday's) paper is about Guamanians' patriotism as Americans and determination to sign up for the US military (Guam is a US territory).
The island has a high rate of soldiers killed-in-action in Iraq, but the families of those killed don't doubt the Iraq mission. Quite sad stuff.
Agnes Rillera, the mother of Army Maj. Henry San Nicolas Ofeciar, who was killed in Afghanistan last August, told Blaine: "The pain of his death I will take to the grave," she said. "But I respect my son's decision to serve. You tell Washington that we support what he did."
---
Earlier this week, the WaPo ran his entertaining piece about how the US military is moving thousands of Marines to Guam, which will shift the American military posture in Asia.
The lede is classically, cheeky Blaine:
Guam Braces for Peaceful Military Incursion
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 25, 2008; Page A01
HAGATNA, Guam -- People on this faraway island -- a U.S. territory 7,824 miles west of Los Angeles -- delight in calling Guam the "tip of the spear" for its role defending U.S. interests in the Far East.
Although the island is typhoon-plagued and earthquake-prone, cursed with bad traffic, unable to cope with its own garbage and overrun with invasive tree snakes that have eaten nearly all the birds, the Guamanians aren't just blowing smoke.
The Pentagon has chosen Guam, a quirkily American place that marries the beauty of Bali with the banality of Kmart, as the prime location in the western Pacific for projecting U.S. military muscle...
---
The "beauty of Bali" may be generous overstatement, though Guam was a nice place for a holiday.
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