manu1959
Left Coast Isolationist
Remember when Puerto Rico was raising hell about
the US Navy using that little island just off the
coast of Puerto Rico for bombing practices, which they
had used for the past 75 years? Demonstrations were
held, Hollywood left wingers, Al Sharpton, and his
fellow demagogues went down there to demonstrate to
get the Navy out? I am sure it infuriated you just as
it did me at the time.
Well, here is our revenge.
Always be careful what you ask for, you just may
get it!
One of the many headaches that the U.S. has had
was the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques. In the waning
years of the Clinton Administration, protesters
demanded that the US Navy abandon bombing and naval
gun fire exercises that had taken place on the largely
uninhabited island for nearly seventy years. Liberal
icons bumped into one another to fly to Puerto Rico,
boat over to the island, trespass (but never on a day
that there was an exercise scheduled) and get arrested
for the benefit of The New York Times or Newsweek.
In 2002, the bombing exercises were transferred
to an Air Force bombing range in central Florida, not
far from the Jacksonville and Pensacola Naval Air
Stations. In January, many of the protesters were back
in Puerto Rico, celebrating the final bombing exercise
on Vieques and waved Puerto Rican flags and placards
that read: "U.S. Navy, get out of Puerto Rico."
The following Feb, Rumsfeld announced that the
U.S. Navy will close the Roosevelt Roads Naval Air
Station in Puerto Rico in 2004, eliminating 1200
civilian jobs as well as 700 military positions. This
naval facility is estimated to have put nearly $300
million annually into the local economy.
The next day a stunned Governor Sila Calderon,
held a news conference in San Juan, protesting the
base closure as a serious blow to the Commonwealth's
fragile economy. The governor stated that "The people
of Puerto Rico don't now or never did have an interest
in closing the Vieques bombing range or the Roosevelt
Roads naval base. We are interested in both staying in
Puerto Rico."
When asked, the Commander-in Chief, Western
Atlantic Command, said, "Without Vieques, I see no
further need for the facility at Roosevelt Roads.
None."
So, Yanqui go home? Fine. But we'll take our
dollars with us. "Hasta la vista, baby!
On February 21, the Secretary of Defense also
announced that starting this year, the U.S. European
Command would begin moving most if not all of its
active combat and support units from bases in Germany
to others being established in Poland, The Czech
Republic, Hungary and Turkey to "better position them
for rapid deployment to likely hot spots in those
parts of the world."
Immediately the business and government leaders
in the German states of Hesse, Rhineland and
Wurttemburg, protested the loss of nearly $6 billion
in revenue each year from the bases and manpower to be
displaced. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry
speculated that the move may be "what the Americans
call 'payback' for the actions of this government in
opposing military action in Iraq."
Does anyone know the German translation for
"Hasta la vista, baby?"
Oh, ain't it nice to see a government with guts
and a good memory.
the US Navy using that little island just off the
coast of Puerto Rico for bombing practices, which they
had used for the past 75 years? Demonstrations were
held, Hollywood left wingers, Al Sharpton, and his
fellow demagogues went down there to demonstrate to
get the Navy out? I am sure it infuriated you just as
it did me at the time.
Well, here is our revenge.
Always be careful what you ask for, you just may
get it!
One of the many headaches that the U.S. has had
was the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques. In the waning
years of the Clinton Administration, protesters
demanded that the US Navy abandon bombing and naval
gun fire exercises that had taken place on the largely
uninhabited island for nearly seventy years. Liberal
icons bumped into one another to fly to Puerto Rico,
boat over to the island, trespass (but never on a day
that there was an exercise scheduled) and get arrested
for the benefit of The New York Times or Newsweek.
In 2002, the bombing exercises were transferred
to an Air Force bombing range in central Florida, not
far from the Jacksonville and Pensacola Naval Air
Stations. In January, many of the protesters were back
in Puerto Rico, celebrating the final bombing exercise
on Vieques and waved Puerto Rican flags and placards
that read: "U.S. Navy, get out of Puerto Rico."
The following Feb, Rumsfeld announced that the
U.S. Navy will close the Roosevelt Roads Naval Air
Station in Puerto Rico in 2004, eliminating 1200
civilian jobs as well as 700 military positions. This
naval facility is estimated to have put nearly $300
million annually into the local economy.
The next day a stunned Governor Sila Calderon,
held a news conference in San Juan, protesting the
base closure as a serious blow to the Commonwealth's
fragile economy. The governor stated that "The people
of Puerto Rico don't now or never did have an interest
in closing the Vieques bombing range or the Roosevelt
Roads naval base. We are interested in both staying in
Puerto Rico."
When asked, the Commander-in Chief, Western
Atlantic Command, said, "Without Vieques, I see no
further need for the facility at Roosevelt Roads.
None."
So, Yanqui go home? Fine. But we'll take our
dollars with us. "Hasta la vista, baby!
On February 21, the Secretary of Defense also
announced that starting this year, the U.S. European
Command would begin moving most if not all of its
active combat and support units from bases in Germany
to others being established in Poland, The Czech
Republic, Hungary and Turkey to "better position them
for rapid deployment to likely hot spots in those
parts of the world."
Immediately the business and government leaders
in the German states of Hesse, Rhineland and
Wurttemburg, protested the loss of nearly $6 billion
in revenue each year from the bases and manpower to be
displaced. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry
speculated that the move may be "what the Americans
call 'payback' for the actions of this government in
opposing military action in Iraq."
Does anyone know the German translation for
"Hasta la vista, baby?"
Oh, ain't it nice to see a government with guts
and a good memory.
