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The Honolulu Advertiser
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
This is an excellent commentary, and was forwarded to those of us on the Hawaii-Nation yahoo list. I have copied it and posted it here. Mahalo to the Hawaii-Nation list for always getting the word out.
----------------------
COMMENTARY
U.S. has no legal basis for Makua training
By Poka Laenui
The U.S. military has no right to train for
combat on Hawaiian soil. Following U.S.
aggression against Hawai'i in 1893, any "right"
the U.S. holds in Hawai'i is nothing more than
rhetoric masking for reality. See General
Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of Dec. 14, 1974:
Definition of aggression:
"Article 1 - Aggression is the use of armed force
by a state against the sovereignty, territorial
integrity or political independence of another
state. ...
"Article 5 - (1) No consideration of whatever
nature, whether political, economic, military or
otherwise, may serve as a justification for
aggression. (2) A war of aggression is a crime
against international peace. Aggression gives
rise to international responsibility. (3) No
territorial acquisition or special advantage
resulting from aggression is or shall be
recognized as lawful."
It follows, therefore, that Makua's "legal" lease
to the U.S. government is nothing more than
manipulation between the feds and the state.
I'm against U.S. military training, not only
because such activity despoils the cultural,
religious and environmental nature of the land.
I'm against it because of the grand lies now
being perpetrated in Hawai'i about the U.S.
commitment to peace and its war against
terrorism. Those are merely slogans tossed around
as if cheerleading for a football team.
The U.S. is not committed to peace. It is instead
committed to its own expansion in order to enjoy
its "thriving global economy." And it hopes to
accomplish this expansion through the suppression
of all peoples who possess the goods or services
for this economy but who oppose U.S. control.
Why should Hawai'i support a war in Iraq where it
is clear the U.S. had no business attacking that
nation in the first place?
War on terrorism? How was Iraq committing
terrorism against the U.S.? If anything, it has
been and continues to be the reverse. It is none
other than the U.S. that is committing terrorism
against the people of Iraq on a daily basis -
bombing homes and villages, killing hundreds of
innocents, then pasting a label of "suspected
insurgent strongholds."
The U.S. had no business going into Iraq in the
first place, and that being the case, it has no
business remaining there another day.
Live-fire training at Makua for duty in Iraq?
Give me a break. The Iraqis fighting back are
using home-made explosives and small arms. U.S.
armaments are a hundred times more powerful than
theirs.
What further "live-fire" training does the U.S. Army need?
Yes, the U.S. is indeed a nation at war. But it
is not "global terrorism" that is the enemy. The
enemies are the ghosts of U.S. past and of U.S.
present. The U.S. war is nothing more than young
and poor fools made into soldiers to hold onto
the ill-gotten gains of corporate America.
The U.S. is finally being called upon to answer
for its past and present deeds. It is being
called upon to come face to face with its greed.
To win this war, the U.S. must resort to the
ultimate weapon: truth. It must turn to the
ultimate force: love. It must take the long path
to peace: confession and beg for forgiveness.
The United States of America can no longer take
the path of exceptionalism, but must accept that
it, too, is bound by the rules of fair play,
justice and humanity.
Meantime, leave Hawaiian lands alone.
Poka Laenui, an attorney and radio talk show
host, is a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran. He
addressed the United Nations' General Assembly in
1992 where he was recognized as one of five
pioneers in the advancement of indigenous
peoples' rights in the world. He wrote this
commentary for The Advertiser.
© COPYRIGHT 2006 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
The Honolulu Advertiser
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
This is an excellent commentary, and was forwarded to those of us on the Hawaii-Nation yahoo list. I have copied it and posted it here. Mahalo to the Hawaii-Nation list for always getting the word out.
----------------------
COMMENTARY
U.S. has no legal basis for Makua training
By Poka Laenui
The U.S. military has no right to train for
combat on Hawaiian soil. Following U.S.
aggression against Hawai'i in 1893, any "right"
the U.S. holds in Hawai'i is nothing more than
rhetoric masking for reality. See General
Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of Dec. 14, 1974:
Definition of aggression:
"Article 1 - Aggression is the use of armed force
by a state against the sovereignty, territorial
integrity or political independence of another
state. ...
"Article 5 - (1) No consideration of whatever
nature, whether political, economic, military or
otherwise, may serve as a justification for
aggression. (2) A war of aggression is a crime
against international peace. Aggression gives
rise to international responsibility. (3) No
territorial acquisition or special advantage
resulting from aggression is or shall be
recognized as lawful."
It follows, therefore, that Makua's "legal" lease
to the U.S. government is nothing more than
manipulation between the feds and the state.
I'm against U.S. military training, not only
because such activity despoils the cultural,
religious and environmental nature of the land.
I'm against it because of the grand lies now
being perpetrated in Hawai'i about the U.S.
commitment to peace and its war against
terrorism. Those are merely slogans tossed around
as if cheerleading for a football team.
The U.S. is not committed to peace. It is instead
committed to its own expansion in order to enjoy
its "thriving global economy." And it hopes to
accomplish this expansion through the suppression
of all peoples who possess the goods or services
for this economy but who oppose U.S. control.
Why should Hawai'i support a war in Iraq where it
is clear the U.S. had no business attacking that
nation in the first place?
War on terrorism? How was Iraq committing
terrorism against the U.S.? If anything, it has
been and continues to be the reverse. It is none
other than the U.S. that is committing terrorism
against the people of Iraq on a daily basis -
bombing homes and villages, killing hundreds of
innocents, then pasting a label of "suspected
insurgent strongholds."
The U.S. had no business going into Iraq in the
first place, and that being the case, it has no
business remaining there another day.
Live-fire training at Makua for duty in Iraq?
Give me a break. The Iraqis fighting back are
using home-made explosives and small arms. U.S.
armaments are a hundred times more powerful than
theirs.
What further "live-fire" training does the U.S. Army need?
Yes, the U.S. is indeed a nation at war. But it
is not "global terrorism" that is the enemy. The
enemies are the ghosts of U.S. past and of U.S.
present. The U.S. war is nothing more than young
and poor fools made into soldiers to hold onto
the ill-gotten gains of corporate America.
The U.S. is finally being called upon to answer
for its past and present deeds. It is being
called upon to come face to face with its greed.
To win this war, the U.S. must resort to the
ultimate weapon: truth. It must turn to the
ultimate force: love. It must take the long path
to peace: confession and beg for forgiveness.
The United States of America can no longer take
the path of exceptionalism, but must accept that
it, too, is bound by the rules of fair play,
justice and humanity.
Meantime, leave Hawaiian lands alone.
Poka Laenui, an attorney and radio talk show
host, is a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran. He
addressed the United Nations' General Assembly in
1992 where he was recognized as one of five
pioneers in the advancement of indigenous
peoples' rights in the world. He wrote this
commentary for The Advertiser.
© COPYRIGHT 2006 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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