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Editorials
Friday, January 12, 2001Sen. Inouye’s
warning on use of
Makua ValleyThe issue: Hawaii's senior senator warned that loss of Makua Valley for live fire training could prompt the Pentagon to move the 25th Infantry Division out of Schofield Barracks.
IF there was any doubt that the Army needs Makua Valley for live-fire training, Senator Inouye's remarks this week ought to lay them to rest. In an address before the Military Affairs Council of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Hawaii's senior senator warned that opposition to continued use of the Leeward Oahu range could prompt the military to close bases and move troops out of Hawaii.
If the 25th Infantry Division abandoned Schofield Barracks, he said, Wahiawa would become a "ghost town" -- which is undoubtedly true. The Navy has already given up Barbers Point Naval Air Station. As the Pentagon looks for more bases to close, other Hawaii installations could become endangered.
Inouye is not just another politician sounding off. A World War II hero -- he recently received the Medal of Honor for his exploits -- he is a long-standing and highly influential member of the Senate Defense Committee with a wealth of information on national security issues. When he issues a warning such as this, it must be taken seriously.
As we have repeatedly noted, Makua Valley is the only place on Oahu where the military can conduct live-fire training for large units. The only other place this sort of training can be done in Hawaii is at the Pohakuloa training area on the Big Island.
But as Inouye pointed out, transporting troops to the Big Island is expensive. If military planners decide that the cost of operations in Hawaii is too high, they may have second thoughts about the bases here, the senator warned.
Inouye observed that the military has been "very sensitive to our needs," including the relinquishment of Kahoolawe as a bombing target to satisfy the demands of Hawaiians. "Now if we take away Makua," he said, "I would expect our commanding officers to go back to the drawing board."
The Army suspended use of Makua Valley in 1998 while an environmental impact study was conducted. That study has been completed. It recommends that military training be resumed with restrictions aimed at protecting endangered species and archeological sites.
A group called Malama Makua has filed suit, seeking to require the Army to conduct a more comprehensive environmental impact statement. The group hopes to force the Army to accept a conclusion that continued use of the valley would be unacceptable on environmental grounds -- although the military has been using Makua since World War II.
Unfortunately, such a conclusion could be reached without any consideration of its effect on national security. Certainly an attack on Hawaii could cause a lot more damage -- environmental and otherwise -- than the Army is doing at Makua.
Military preparedness appears to be no concern of the Army's opponents. It should concern everyone else.
Florida election
review should prove
valuable
FICKLE chads and butterfly ballots were not the only problems with Florida's handling of the presidential election. Civil rights groups alleging institutional racism are suing the state's election officials, and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission has begun looking into reports of negligence or misconduct. Lessons can be learned from a thorough examination of the process and how similar problems might have occurred elsewhere.
Qualified voters were allegedly purged from registration lists and some voters were denied language assistance that was required, according to the civil rights groups.
They claim thousands of would-be voters were turned away at the polls because applications from motor vehicle registrations had not been processed. Many of the 17,000 letters that were sent to inform felons that they could not vote went to people who were never convicted.
A state employee testified to the commission that she had been stopped and intimidated by five white Highway Patrol officers near her Tallahassee-area polling place. Patrol officers later said it was a spur-of-the-moment safety checkpoint not intended to scare people on their way to the polls.
"The committee has received troubling reports of an inordinate number of irregularities," said Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman of the Civil Rights Commission. "We know that in elections across the country there will be from time to time instances of irregularities. But these should be the exceptions, not the rule."
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president-elect's brother, said he would await completion of the commission's hearings, a Justice Department investigation and any inquiries by Florida's attorney general before deciding whether to authorize his own investigation. Bush had formed a panel last month to recommend improvements, saying he was most anxious to update the state's voting equipment.
Florida was put under the microscope because of the closeness of the race and its crucial factor in the electoral vote.
It would be surprising if problems that came to light in Florida were unique to that state. State election officials across the country need to review their methods of assuring a fair and open polling process.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Acting Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
