A federal judge's decision to prevent resumption of training in Makua Valley leaves the Army temporarily without a place to conduct the exercises it says its soldiers need to be ready for combat. Makua ruling is
just the beginningThe issue: The conflict between the Army
and a community group about training
exercises may have repercussions
far beyond the valley.But military officials should be aware that the situation could become permanent for at the heart of the Makua Valley conflict is whether incendiary weapons, artillery and machine gun bullets are compatible with endangered plants and animals and cultural and natural resources.
The community at large should weigh whether to surrender the economic benefits of a military presence on the island should the Army leave because it has no place to train.
U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway's granting of an injunction to stop the Army from resuming live-fire training at Makua for three months is a preliminary step in settling a lawsuit brought by Malama Makua, a community group that wants the Army to conduct a thorough assessment of the effects of the exercises.
The Army, which suspended training in the valley in 1998 to review the possible damage by wildfires the exercises sparked, had argued that a study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that training a smaller number of soldiers and using fewer incendiary weapons would have "no significant impact" on the valley. It also contended a more comprehensive study was not necessary and would be too costly and time consuming.
However, Mollway rejected the Army's assessment, saying there are "sufficiently serious questions" about the Army's position. She also said she delaying training will not cause the Army "irreparable harm."
Malama Makua has good intentions in attempting to save Makua Valley from cultural and environmental degradation, but it should realize that its actions may have some unfavorable results. The military's presence, like it or not, has tremendous economic value in Hawaii and the trade-off may be a loss of military dollars.
It may find that the Army will put up a fight for Makua as the number of acceptable training areas dwindle. Some buoyed by President Bush's decision to stop military exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques should be aware that that decision was purely political by a president hoping to court the Hispanic vote.
Makua is a legal issue and, depending on Mollway's decisions, will likely take years to final resolution.
MORE than three million Mexicans living illegally in the United States may receive the gift of permanent, legal residency under a plan being considered by President Bush. The amnesty would not apply to illegal U.S. immigrants from other parts of the world. However, the Immigration and Naturalization Service should extend as much discretion as possible to non-Mexican immigrants who deserve to remain in America. Foremost among those is Chai Chaowasaree, a native of Thailand who has earned respect as one of Hawaii's top chefs and restaurateurs but now faces deportation. Immigrant leniency
should extend to ChaiThe issue: A federal appellate court
has rejected the deportation appeal
of a popular Thai chef who has
lived in Hawaii for 16 years.Chaowasaree arrived in Hawaii in 1985 and is accused of having perpetrated a sham by entering into a false marriage for the sole purpose of appearing to comply with immigration laws. For that reason, he was denied permanent residency in 1991 and immigration officials launched deportation proceedings.
Those proceedings were pending in January of last year when Chaowasaree traveled to Thailand. Upon his return to Hawaii, he was arrested for having violated the terms of his temporary-resident status by leaving the United States. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld federal Judge David Ezra's denial of Chaowasaree's request to prevent his deportation.
Chaowasaree's problems stem from what appears to be his own wrongdoing. Evidence is strong that he entered into the 1986 marriage for fraudulent purposes. He told immigration officials at first that he and his wife lived together for about two years but later said only six months. An immigration investigator received conflicting answers to questions asked routinely of such couples to verify the authenticity of marriages to aliens to U.S. citizens.
Millions of undocumented aliens now labor in the shadows of American society. While most of them soon may gain amnesty through a sweeping presidential order, others must continue to contend with immigration laws that were stiffened in 1996 to lessen the immigration service's leniency. "Waiver of deportation" and "suspension of deportation" relief in the old law were replaced with a narrower "cancellation of removal" clause.
If Chaowasaree does not qualify for relief under the new language of immigration law, Congress should broaden it to extend to aliens caught in similar predicaments, even those that have been self-made. Discretion should be afforded to worthy aliens who acknowledge their past wrongs.
Katharine Graham wrote in her Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography that "journalistic excellence and profitability go hand in hand." By committing The Washington Post to excellence through the eventful 1970s and beyond, Graham not only made a handsome profit for the Post as a business but played a major role in the shaping of American history. Her decisions for the Post to join The New York Times in publishing the Pentagon Papers and to support Post reporters' pursuit of Watergate brought the newspaper to unimagined prominence. Graham exercised
her power wiselyWhen her father bought the Post at a bankruptcy sale in 1933, it was the fifth newspaper in a five-paper city. With Katharine Graham at the helm, it achieved what Ben Bradlee called one of its unspoken goals, "to get the world to refer to The Post and New York Times in the same breath."
Graham may have been the world's most powerful woman of the past century, but she exercised that influence not by giving orders but providing direction and support.
"People literally do think that I run downstairs and tell them what to print and what not to print. I mean it's so crazy it's hard to answer," she said. "It isn't right for a publisher to tell an editor what to do or not to do. But it is certainly the publisher's responsibility to see that the paper is complete, accurate, fair and as excellent as possible."
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