Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Rocket Island - Pacific Ocean

Must see video. Link is provided below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXMJVgctizA

October 2009

An American test warhead arcs gracefully through the sky towards Kwajalein Island, a strange but familiar sight here. But now a rift between America and the Marshallese is making the islands future unclear.

A Minuteman III intercontinental missile was fired 28 minutes earlier from a Californian airbase. Fortunately the re-entry vehicles splash down harmlessly in deep water in the Kwajalein Atoll. US Army Lt-Colonel Harold Buhl is pleased. In order for a weapon to be a weapon of deterrence it needs to be proven that in fact it will work. For 63 years the Marshall Islands has played host to American war games but in 2016 Americas lease for 11 of the islands is up. The Marshallese say the US compensation is inadequate and their people are struggling. Dubbed The Slum of the Pacific, 15,000 people are crammed into a narrow strip of coral and sand. We have running water 3 days a week 2,000 kids dont go to school at all., tells Michael Kabua, Ebeye Sentator. Landowners are asking more than they've been offered, and now negotiations have stalled.

Produced by ABC Australia, Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

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