Editorials
Wednesday, May 29, 1996
Bomber appropriately named
for Hawaii
THE small band of Hawaiian protesters who briefly disrupted ceremonies at Hickam Air Force base may not reflect the sentiments of most Hawaii residents. This is a community that has learned through bitter experience the vital importance of military preparedness. Native Hawaiians as well as all other racial and ethnic groups here have served bravely in the armed forces and supported the military in their civilian capacities.
The protesters objected to naming a B-2 bomber "Spirit of Hawaii," but that designation simply follows those given other aircraft of the same type. If the complaint is that naming a warplane for Hawaii does not reflect the Hawaiian spirit, we would submit that the ancient Hawaiians were not lacking in martial fervor. Certainly that was true at the time of the first Western contact, when wars between the rival island kingdoms were in progress.
If the complaint is that the bomber is an instrument of aggression, we would suggest that it could help keep the peace as other weapons in the United States' military arsenal have done. Senator Inouye, who knows the horror of war from personal experience and has worked diligently for many years to maintain America's military strength, commented,"I look upon this aircraft as a maintainer of peace. There's some appropriateness in naming it after Hawaii."
The protesters represented a Hawaiian sovereignty group, but they did their cause no good by taking an anti-military stand. The cause of sovereignty need not conflict with U.S. military policy, and there is no need for sovereignty advocates to antagonize people who support the armed forces.
The Arizona Memorial is a testament to the need for military preparedness, a monument to the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. The "Spirit of Hawaii" is part of the nation's effort to ensure that there are no more Pearl Harbors.
Other editorials in brief:
Tobacco information
DETERMINING tobacco companies' past knowledge of their products' dangers is next to impossible by sorting through immense, raw information collected by the industry over decades. However, the companies' attorneys developed computer databases that make the chore feasible. Over their objections, the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered them to share the databases with opposing attorneys in Minnesota, a victory of truth over the industry's reluctance to divulge potentially damaging material.
Roland W. Force
ONE of the major figures in the transformation and revitalization of the Bishop Museum was Roland W. Force, who died May 19 at 71. An anthropologist with a primary research interest in the Pacific, Force was director of the museum from 1962 to 1976. After leaving the institution, he became director of the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation of New York City, which later became the National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian Institution.
It is difficult to exaggerate the Bishop Museum's importance to Hawaii as an educational and scientific institution. Roland Force did much to make the museum the vibrant place it is today.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor