NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, June 15, 2001

At a brief news conference Thursday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sidestepped questions about the U.S. decision to leave the Vieques bombing range, saying he did not craft the plan but supported it. Reporters had been told he would have a substantive statement.

"The decision has been handled by Deputy Secretary [Paul D.] Wolfowitz and the secretary of the Navy, in whom I have great confidence," Rumsfeld said at a brief news conference on the steps of the Pentagon. "I think they are handling it very, very well."

When pressed whether he agreed with the decision to leave the facility, a frustrated Rumsfeld answered: "I am in full agreement with the president of the United States, the deputy defense secretary and the secretary of the Navy. I don't know how I can be any clearer."

Meanwhile, Navy and other military officials expressed their dismay about the decision, laying it at the feet of the White House, which in turn calls it a Navy and Defense Department proposal.

In Gothenburg, Sweden, President Bush said: "I appreciate the fact that the Defense Department and the Navy responded, and have made the statement loud and clear, that within a reasonable period of time that the Navy will find another place to practice and to be prepared to keep the peace. It's the right agreement. I applaud the Defense Department and the Navy for reaching that agreement."

However, as NewsMax.com has reported, Vieques is irreplaceable and crucial to national security and the safety of U.S. military personnel.

Pandering to Latinos

Military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity say the decision was entirely a political one, handled by the White House's top political operative, Karl Rove, and Bush's newly selected Navy Secretary Gordon England.

"England didn't meet with anyone on the [National Security Council, which handles military matters for the White House], only with Rove," the official said, suggesting the decision was motivated by a desire to mollify the Puerto Rican voting block in New York to help liberal Republican Gov. George Pataki.

Navy officials and others in the Pentagon hierarchy were stunned and in some cases apoplectic about the decision.

"This is the 'help-is-on-the-way' crew," one official said, referring to Bush's campaign promise to shore up the military.

Bush Turns His Back on the Military

"This is not the first issue" on which the White House has turned its back on military wishes, he said, citing the size of a budget increase, a small and late emergency supplemental appropriation for this year, and the secretive reviews of military policy and strategy conducted by the Office of the Secretary of Defense with little input from the uniformed military so far.

The Navy and Marine Corps have long asserted the Vieques training range is the only place in the Western Atlantic where submarines, surface ships, aircraft and Marines can practice a combined-arms assault on a land target, training that is vital for each carrier battle group to undertake each time it puts to sea.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Jones once called Vieques the "crown jewel" of the Navy's training facilities.

The Navy has used Vieques for 60 years, a long run that was interrupted on April 19, 1999, when two errant bombs dropped from Marine Corps fighter jets hit an observation post off the range, killing one civilian Puerto Rican guard.

There Goes the Referendum

This prompted massive protests that forced the Navy to suspend its use of the range for nearly a year while it worked out an agreement with Puerto Rico. U.S. taxpayers, via the Navy, would give Vieques $40 million in economic and environmental aid and would hold a referendum in November 2001 to determine the fate of the island. If there was a "no" vote, the Navy would leave the range by May 2003. If the 9,000 people on Vieques approved the Navy's use of the range, taxpayers would give them an additional $50 million.

In the meantime, the Navy agreed to use only inert munitions on the range and promised to try to find another suitable range for the Atlantic fleet, with no success so far. It needs a combination of deep water, open beaches, low population and low air traffic somewhere in the Western Atlantic for ships deploying to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.

White House officials say privately the Clinton administration agreement to hold a referendum on a national security matter was a bad idea, especially as only one-third of Vieques voters support continuing use of the range and it was bound to fail.

A Pentagon official derided that logic, saying facetiously the White House seems to think "mob rule" is preferable to a vote.

Sometimes-violent protests take place on the range by Puerto Ricans and others, including agitator Al Sharpton. More than 75 people were arrested by military police in late April for trespassing on the range, which is Navy property.

Navy officials point out that between now and November, they would be pumping a great deal of money into the Vieques economy, which could be counted on to change some minds in the November vote. The Defense Department just released $5 million to Vieques, bringing the total to $6.5 million of the $40 million promised so far.

The White House decision obviates the November referendum, but it remains unclear whether it would have to be held anyway as it was written into law by Congress last year.

'Ripple Effect' Against the Military

One Pentagon official worried that the Vieques decision could have a "ripple effect" on other controversial ranges and military bases.

Bush on Thursday opened the door to that possibility, saying the fact that some people didn't want the Navy there (ignoring those who want it to stay) was a deciding factor.

"My attitude is that the Navy ought to find somewhere else to conduct these exercises for a lot of reasons," Bush said in Sweden. "One, there's been some harm done to people in the past. Secondly, these are our friends and neighbors, and they don't want us there."

A military official, commenting on training ranges, said, "No one really wants to have people bombing their backyard, but it's a shared responsibility in a democracy. If you want the best military in the world, you have to train like no other military out there. The only way you get a qualitative edge is training under the most severe circumstances."

Next: Leaving Okinawa?

Of special concern is Okinawa, Japan, where citizens have mounted massive protests against the U.S. presence, in large part because of rapes and assaults on Japanese girls by a several service members over the last 10 years. About 40,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Japan.

Exactly when the Navy will leave Vieques remains unclear.

"I don't have an understanding of the agreement," said a top Navy official.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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