Published on Thursday, January 6, 2011 by TomDispatch.com

Freedom Fighters for a Fading Empire

What It Means When We Say We Have the World’s Finest Fighting Force

by William Astore

Words matter, as candidate Barack Obama said in the 2008 election campaign. What to make, then, of President Obama's pep talk last month to U.S. troops in Afghanistan in which he lauded them as "the finest fighting force that the world has ever known"? Certainly, he knew that those words would resonate with the troops as well as with the folks back home.

In fact, this sort of description of the U.S. military has become something of a must for American presidents. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, for example, boasted of that military as alternately "the greatest force for freedom in the history of the world" and "the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known." Hyperbolic and self-promoting statements, to be sure, but undoubtedly sincere, reflecting as they do an American sense of exceptionalism that sits poorly with the increasingly interconnected world of the twenty-first century.

I'm a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a historian who teaches military history. The retired officer in me warms to the sentiment of our troops as both unparalleled fighters and selfless liberators, but the historian in me begs to differ.

Let's start with the fighting part of the equation. Are we truly the world's greatest fighting force, not only at this moment, but as measured against all militaries across history? If so, on what basis is this claim made? And what does such triumphalist rhetoric suggest not just about our national narcissism, but Washington's priorities? Consider that no leading U.S. politician thinks to boast that we have the finest educational system or health-care system or environmental policies "that the world has ever known."

Measured in terms of sheer destructive power, and our ability to project that power across the globe, the U.S. military is indeed the world's "finest" fighting force. Our nuclear arsenal remains second to none. Our air forces (including the Navy's carrier task forces, the Army's armada of helicopter gunships, and the CIA's fleet of unmanned aerial drones prosecuting a "secret" war in Pakistan) dominate the heavens. Our Navy ("a global force for good," according to its new motto) rules the waves -- even more so than old Britannia did a century ago. And well should we rule the skies and seas, given the roughly one trillion dollars a year we spend on achieving our vision of "full spectrum dominance."

But this awesome ability to exercise "global reach, global power" hardly makes us the finest military force ever. After all, "finest" shouldn't be measured by sheer strength and reach alone. First and foremost, of course, should come favorable results set against the quality of the opponents bested. To use a sports analogy, we wouldn't call the Pittsburgh Steelers "the finest team in NFL history" simply because they annihilated Penn State in football. Similarly, we can't measure the success of today's U.S. military solely in terms of amazingly quick (if increasingly costly and ultimately dismal) "victories" over the Taliban in 2001 or Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces in 2003.

To carry the football analogy a few yards further, one might ask when our "finest fighting force" had its last Super Bowl win. Certainly, 1918 and 1945 (World Wars I and II) were such wins, even if as part of larger coalitions; 1953 (Korea) was a frustrating stalemate; 1973 (Vietnam) was a demoralizing loss; 1991 (Desert Storm in Iraq) was a distinctly flawed win; and efforts like Grenada or Panama or Serbia were more like scrimmages. Arguably our biggest win, the Cold War, was achieved less through military means than economic power and technological savvy.

To put it bluntly: America's troops are tough-minded professionals, but the finest fighting force ever? Sir, no, sir.

We're Number One!

Americans often seem to live in the eternal now, which makes it easier to boast that our military is the finest ever. Most historians, however, are not so tied to nationalistic rhetoric or the ceaseless present. If asked to identify the finest fighting force in history, my reaction -- and I would hardly be alone in the field -- would be to favor those peoples and empires which existed for war alone.

Examples immediately spring to mind: the Assyrians, the Spartans, the Romans, the Vikings, the Mongols, and the Nazis. These peoples elevated their respective militaries and martial prowess above all else. Unsurprisingly, they were bloodthirsty and ruthless. Unstinting ambition for imperial goals often drove them to remarkable feats of arms at an unconscionable and sometimes difficult to sustain cost. Yes, the Spartans defeated the Athenians, but that internecine quarrel paved the way for the demise of the independent Greek city states at the hands of Philip of Macedon and his son, Alexander (soon enough to be known as "the Great").

Yes, the Romans conquered an empire, but one of their own historians, Tacitus, put in the mouth of a Celtic chieftain this description of being on the receiving end of Roman "liberation":

"The Romans' tyranny cannot be escaped by any act of reasonable submission. These brigands of the world have exhausted the land by their rapacity, so they now ransack the sea. When their enemy is rich, they lust after wealth; when their enemy is poor, they lust after power. Neither East nor West has satisfied their hunger. They are unique among humanity insofar as they equally covet the rich and the poor. Robbery, butchery, and rapine they call 'Empire.' They create a desert and call it 'Peace.'"

Talk about tough love.

The Romans would certainly have to be in the running for "finest military" of all time. They conquered many peoples, expanded far, and garrisoned vast areas of the Mediterranean, North Africa, and what would become Europe, while their legions marched forth, often to victory (not to speak of plunder), for hundreds of years. Still, the gold medal for the largest land empire in history -- and the finest fighting force of all time -- must surely go to the thirteenth century Mongols.

Led by Genghis Khan and his successors, Mongol horsemen conquered China and the Islamic world -- the two most powerful, sophisticated civilizations of their day -- while also exerting control over Russia for two and a half centuries. And thanks to a combination of military excellence, clever stratagem, fleetness of foot (and far more important, hoof), flexibility, and when necessary utter ferocity, they did all this while generally being outnumbered by their enemies.

Even the fighting power of the finest militaries waxed and waned, however, based in part on the quality of those leading them. The Macedonians blossomed under Philip and Alexander. It was not simply Rome that conquered Gaul, but Julius Caesar. The Mongols were at each other's throats until Genghis Khan united them into an unstoppable military machine that swept across a continent. The revolutionary French people in their famed levée en masse had martial fervor, but only Napoleon gave them direction. History's finest fighting forces are associated closely with history's greatest captains.

Measure that against the American military today. General David Petraeus is certainly a successful officer who exhibits an enviable mastery of detail and a powerful political sense of how to handle Washington, but a Genghis Khan? An Alexander? A Caesar? Even "King David," as he's been called both by admirers and more than a few detractors, might blush at such comparisons. After all, at the head of the most powerfully destructive force in the Middle East, and later Central Asia, he has won no outright victories and conquered nothing. His triumph in Iraq in 2006-2007 may yet prove more "confected" than convincing.

As for our armed forces, though most Americans don't know it, within U.S. military circles much criticism exists of an officer corps of "tarnished brass" that is deficient in professionalism; of generals who are more concerned with covering their butts than leading from the front; of instruction at military academies that is divorced from war's realities; of an aversion "to innovation or creativity... [leading to] an atmosphere of anti-intellectualism" that undermines strategy and makes a hash of counterinsurgency efforts. Indeed, our military's biting criticism of itself is one of the few positive signs in a fighting force that is otherwise overstretched, deeply frustrated, and ridiculously overpraised by genuflecting politicians.

So I'm sorry, President Obama. If you wish to address the finest fighting force the world has ever known, you'll need a time machine, not Air Force One. You'll have to doff your leather Air Force-issue flight jacket and don Mongolian armor. And in so doing, you'll have to embrace mental attitudes and a way of life utterly antithetical to democracy and the rights of humanity as we understand them today. For that is the price of building a fighting force second to none -- and one reason why our politicians should stop insisting that we have one.

"The Greatest Force for Human Liberation"

Two centuries ago, Napoleon led his armies out of France and brought "liberty, equality, and fraternity" to much of the rest of ancien régime Europe -- but on his terms and via the barrel of a musket. His invasion of Spain, for example, was viewed as anything but a "liberation" by the Spanish, who launched a fierce guerrilla campaign against their French occupiers that sapped the strength of Napoleon's empire and what was generally considered the finest fighting force of its moment. British aid to the insurgency helped ensure that this campaign would become Napoleon's "Spanish ulcer."

The "Little Corporal" ultimately decided to indirectly strike back at the British by invading Russia, which was refusing to enforce France's so-called continental blockade. As Napoleon's army bled out or froze solid in the snows of a Russian winter, the Prussians and the Austrians found new reasons to reject French "fraternity." Within years, Napoleon's empire was unsaddled and destroyed, a fate shared by its leader, sent into ignominious exile on the island of Saint Helena.

Like Napoleon's fired up revolutionary troops, the American military also sees itself as on a mission to spread democracy and freedom. Afghans and Iraqis have, however, proven no more eager than the Spaniards of two centuries ago to be "liberated" at gun (or "Hellfire" missile) point, even when the liberators come bearing gifts, which in today's terms means the promise of roads, jobs, and "reconstruction," or even cash by the pallet.

Because we Americans believe our own press releases, it's difficult to imagine others (except, of course, those so fanatic as to be blind to reality) seeing us as anything but well-intentioned liberators. As journalist Nir Rosen has put it: "There's... a deep sense among people in the [American] policy world, in the military, that we're the good guys. It's just taken for granted that what we're doing must be right because we're doing it. We're the exceptional country, the essential nation, and our role, our intervention, our presence is a benign and beneficent thing."

In reporting on our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rosen and others have offered ample proof for those who care to consider it that our foreign interventions have been anything but benign or beneficent, no less liberating. Our invasion of Iraq opened the way to civil war and mayhem. For many ordinary Iraqis, when American intervention didn't lead to death, destruction, dislocation, and exile, it bred "deep humiliation and disruption" as well as constant fear, a state of affairs that, as Rosen notes, is "painful and humiliating and scary."

In Afghanistan, Rosen points out, most villagers see our troops making common cause with a despised and predatory government. Huge infusions of American dollars, meanwhile, rarely trickle down to the village level, but instead promote the interests of Afghan warlords and foreign businesses. Small wonder that, more than nine years later, a majority of Afghans say they want to be liberated from us.

If the U.S. military is not "the greatest force for human liberation" in all history, what is? Revealingly, it's far easier to identify the finest fighting force of history. If put on the spot, though, I'd highlight the ideas and ideals of human dignity, of equality before the law, of the fundamental value of each and every individual, as the greatest force for human liberation. Such ideals are shared by many peoples. They may sometimes be defended by the sword, but were inscribed by the pens of great moralists and thinkers of humanity's collective past. In this sense, when it comes to advancing freedom, the pen has indeed been mightier than the sword.

Freedom Fighters for a Fading Empire

The historian John Lukacs once noted: "There are many things wrong with the internationalist idea to Make the World Safe for Democracy, one of them being that it is not that different from the nationalist idea that What Is Good for America Is Good for the World."

In our post-9/11 world, whatever our rhetoric about democratizing the planet, our ambitions are guided by the seemingly hardheaded goal of making Americans safe from terrorists. A global war on terrorism has, however, proven anything but consistent with expanding liberty at home or abroad. Indeed, the seductive and self-congratulatory narrative of our troops as selfless liberators and the finest freedom fighters around actually helps blind us to our violent methods in far-off lands, even as it distances us from the human costs of our imperial policies.

Though we officially seek to extinguish terrorists, our actions abroad serve as obvious accelerants to terror. To understand why this is so, ask yourself how comforted you would be if foreign military "liberators" kicked in your door, shouted commands in a language you didn't understand, confiscated your guns, dragged your father and brothers and sons off in cuffs and hoods to locations unknown, all in the name of "counterterror" operations? How comforted would you be if remotely piloted drones hovered constantly overhead, ready to unleash Hellfire missiles at terrorist "targets of opportunity" in your neighborhood?

Better not to contemplate such harsh realities. Better to praise our troops as so many Mahatma Gandhis, so many freedom fighters. Better to praise them as so many Genghis Khans, so many ultimate warriors.

At a time of feared national decline, our leaders undoubtedly prescribe military action in part to comfort us (and themselves) and restore our sense of potency and pride. In doing so, they violate the famous phrase long associated with the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm.

© 2011 William Astore

William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF), is a TomDispatch regular. His books and articles focus mainly on the military, technology, and society. He welcomes reader comments at wjastore@gmail.com.

Guam loses Congress vote

FRIDAY, 07 JANUARY 2011 02:56 BY THERESE HART | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

* Constitutionality of delegate voting rights raised

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo is joined by Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio and her granddaughter, Nicole Bordallo Nelson during her swearing-in ceremony in the 112th Congress. Contributed photo

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo yesterday took her oath of office in the 112th Congress during a ceremony led by Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio.

But even as Bordallo was sworn in, the new Republican majority in the House worked to terminate the “symbolic” voting rights that Guam and other insular areas enjoyed in the previous Democrat-controlled Congress.

Bordallo, joined her colleagues from the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in opposing the passage of H. Res. 5, the rules governing operations of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 112th Congress.

Over the past several weeks, Republican leaders crafted a rules package during the House Republican Conference that, among other provisions, would rescind the ability of delegates to cast symbolic votes on the floor during Committee of the Whole proceedings.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia was joined on the House floor by Bordallo, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa, Congresswoman Donna Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Congressman Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, and Congressman Kilili Sablan of the CNMI as she made a motion to refer the rules package to a committee that would investigate the constitutionality of delegate voting rights.

Congresswoman Norton's motion was put on hold, by a vote of 225 yes votes to 188 no votes. H. Res. 5 eventually passed last evening by a vote of 240 yes votes to 191 no votes thus depriving the Delegates and Resident Representative from the right to vote in Committee of the Whole.

Delegates were first granted voting privileges in 1993 under the leadership of Speaker of the House Tom Foley of Washington in the 103rd Congress. The Republican majority removed delegate voting privileges in the 104th Congress.

Subsequently, the 110th Congress, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, restored those voting rights. This is the second time that the ability of delegates to cast votes has been rescinded.

"The Republican rules package makes this body less transparent and less responsive to the American people," Bordallo said.

"By obligating the Delegates to take public stands, our limited vote showed our constituents where we stood on important issues. Our vote also helped ensure legislation considered by the House took our constituents into account. When an amendment came forward last Congress regarding the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo into the U.S, the territories were initially excluded from the prohibition. Our vote compelled the House to address our concerns. This is precisely how representative democracy is meant to work,” Bordallo said.

“Further, men and women from the territories and the District of Columbia serve and have died for our country in the Armed Forces to protect our way of life. Yet, despite all the rhetoric of restoring democracy to the House of Representatives, the Republicans’ first act is to deny us a basic function of democracy - the right to represent our constituents and vote in the House of Representatives," she added.

As her first legislative act in the 112th Congress, Congresswoman Bordallo re-introduced the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act hours after taking her oath of office.

The Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act was re-introduced as H.R. 44 and is identical to compromise language that was reached during negotiations on H.R. 6523, the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11 NDAA).

In the 111th Congress, Guam war claims was removed from the final defense spending bill due to objections by a group of fiscally-conservative Republicans in the U.S. Senate, said Bordallo.

"The fight to bring closure to the issue of Guam war claims continues in the 112th Congress with introduction of the compromise version of H.R. 44.

"The passage of the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act continues to remain my top legislative priority as we begin the 112th Congress.

Introduction of H.R. 44 continues to build on progress and momentum of the legislation in the 111th Congress.”

Guam News Watch makes final broadcast

By Brett Kelman • Pacific Daily News • January 6, 2011

Guam News Watch, a television news program that started earlier this year, has closed its doors, according to a press release from parent company Marianas Media Investors.

The show's final news broadcast was on Tuesday night. A farewell message was broadcast during their regular 6 p.m. timeslot last night.

"MMI may entertain the redevelopment of news programming in the future, but the timing of that would be premature at this time," said Marianas Media Chief Executive Officer Georgette Tengco said in the release.

The release said that Marianas Media wouldn't take questions about the shutdown of Guam News Watch. The CW4 station and local Filipino station PSST will continue to broadcast, the release states

Guam News Watch sprung from Guam News Factor, a website that offered mostly politically oriented news. The site also offered "news analysis," which involved commentary on stories published by other local media.

The website became a broadcast news show about nine months ago, according to the release.

FCC complaint

In October the Republican campaign team of then-Sen. Eddie Calvo and then-Sen. Ray Tenorio filed a complaint against MMI alleging that Guam News Watch had provided free advertising to their Democratic rivals.

Guam News Watch has disclosed on air that it is partially owned by attorney David Lujan, who often represents Calvo's political rival, former Gov. Carl Gutierrez, in his many court cases.

Marianas Media denied the allegation and the Gutierrez campaign called the complaint "pathetic."

Calvo-Tenorio has since won the election and taken office, and no update has been provided on the FCC complaint in months.

Solidarity Actions to Protest US Military Expansion in Takae (Okinawa)

January 3, 2011 by kyle from DMZhawaii.org

U.S. military helicopters buzzed the peace encampment near the Yambaru forest in Takae, at the northern end of Okinawa. Construction of the jungle warfare training area has begun. This is another site of community resistance to U.S. military base expansion in Okinawa, but it has gotten far less media attention than Futenma and Henoko. Groups in Japan are mobilizing to protest the U.S. expansion of training in the rainforest of Yambaru. They requested international groups to send messages of solidarity:

Email your message/request to: no.base.okinawa@gmail.com

Please include in your email the following information:

*** Name (for an individual) or name of your organization
*** Your message/request (length is up to you)

Both Japanese and English messages will be accepted.

（日本語ではこちらをご覧ください。）

Please Join Us in Our Action for Preserving the Pristine Yanbaru Forest and People of Takae, Okinawa!

We invite you to join us in our protest at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo over the restart of the U.S. helipads construction in Takae, Higashi Village of Okinawa, and the destruction of the sit-in tent by a U.S. helicopter, either by sending us your message/request to the US Embassy by email by January 8, or physically joining our action on January 10 in Tokyo (see instruction at the bottom).

The Yambaru Forest is a habitat for endangered species such as Yambaru Kuina (Okinawan Rail) and Noguchi Gera (Okinawan Woodpecker). It is known internationally as a region rich in biodiversity. Takae, situated in Yambaru, is a small village of about 160 residents, including many who moved here for its pristine nature.

However, the U.S. Marine Corps has been using the Yambaru Forest for combat training. In 1957, th US military started using the area as “Northern Training Area” (Jungle Warfare Training Center), and currently there are 15 U.S. helicopter takeoff and landing zones (helipads) in Higashi Village. Residents of Takae have constantly suffered from the noise and the risk of helicopter crashes. To make matters worse, the Japanese and US governments decided to build 6 new helipads, surrounding the residential neighborhood of Takae.

Construction of new helipads will not only further endanger the livelihood and lives themselves of Takae residents, but also further destroy the precious environment with its wealth of species, forest and rivers. New military facilities also pave the way to the possibility of a new war. Residents of Takae have protested against the helipads construction for the above reasons. In 2006, we passed a resolution against the new helipads, and demanded of the relevant authorities that they review the construction plan. Takae residents and their supporters from across Japan and from around the world have continued to sit-in, monitoring the site and trying to persuade the government against the construction.

The Japanese and US governments, however, have not listened to the voices of opposition by the residents, and have not provided sincere explanation or proper opportunities for public hearing. The Japanese government even decided, all of a sudden, to prosecute some of the local protesters for obstructing traffic.

Just before dawn on December 22, 2010, at 6:30 AM, some 100 members of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, ignoring the ongoing court proceedings, barged into the site without warning to restart the helipad construction. On the next night, December 23rd, a US helicopter hovered only 15 meters above the sit-in tent, causing the tent to blow down. Such military exercise over a public road threatenｓ the safety of local residents. The Japanese and US governments are harming the people of Takae by forcing through the construction work without sufficient explanation or consent by local residents. Such an approach by the two governments is unacceptable.

Residents of the Henoko district in Nago City, where the Japanese and US governments plan to build a replacement base for MCAS Futenma, have also been sitting-in for over 2,400 days, in order to preserve their life and the beautiful ocean. We urge you also to say “NO” to the new base plan in Henoko.

Following our protest to the Ministry of Defense on December 22 and the December 26 demonstration in Shinjuku, “Save Takae/Okinawa – an urgent appeal and demonstration against construction of helipads,” we will go to the US Embassy in Tokyo and the Japanese Ministry of Defense on January 10 (Mon.), 2011, to protest. We would like to collect as many requests/demands as possible and deliver them to the US government. We accept both individual and organizational messages. Just one sentence message, such as “We do not need US helipads in the pristine forest” will suffice, or a longer message is welcome too. The Takae and Henoko issues are not just about war and military bases, but they are also about environmental preservation, biological diversity, and an alternative, “slow-life” lifestyle. Please express your message in your own words. Please follow the below instruction and send your message by January 8, 2011.

With our voices and with our actions, let us stop the helipad construction in Takae, and the base construction in Henoko. Let us bring a peaceful and fulfilling life to Takae and Henoko!

(The original document in Japanese is at: http://takae.ti-da.net/e3296164.html. Translated by Norimatsu Satoko and Gavan McCormack)

UOG gets materials for engineering school

By Lannie Walker from KUAM.com

Guam - The University of Guam received $250,000 in materials for the construction of its School of Engineering Annex. Hawaiian Rock Products made the donation of materials including ready-mix concrete, installed asphalt pavement, concrete blocks and concrete pipes.

UOG president Dr. Robert Underwood says the donation will help the university successfully launch the engineering program.

F-15s to train in Guam

WEDNESDAY, 05 JANUARY 2011 01:45 BY THERESE HART | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

* Okinawa training function moved to Guam

Photo shows an Air Force F-15 flying a patrol mission. Japanese media has reported that some training functions of F-15 fighters stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa will be moved to Guam. (U.S. Air Force photo)

A recent agreement between Japan and the United States would move some training functions of F-15 fighters stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to Guam, according to a report from the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The airbase is home to two F-15 squadrons of the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Wing. The move is expected to happen this year, according to Japanese government sources cited by the report.

If final approval is granted, it will be the first time exercises of U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa Prefecture have been moved out of that country.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa are expected to finalize the agreement on Jan. 13 during a two-day visit by Gates to Japan.

The agreement is seen as a type of offering to Okinawa as a reduction of the “burden borne by the prefecture in hosting U.S. bases, and hopes to use it as a beachhead to get the prefecture's cooperation on the stalled plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within the prefecture,” the sources said.

The U.S. has kept two fighter squadrons -- each currently comprised of 24 F-15s -- permanently stationed at the Kadena base, which is one of the United States' largest strategic military locations outside the U.S. mainland.

Local residents in Okinawa have often complained of the noise pollution produced by the base's aircraft.

The Japanese government has been trying to have the United States move the training functions of as much as one full F-15 squadron to Guam.

The sources said fuel and other costs associated with the transfer of exercises will be financed by the exercise-relocation portion of the so-called “sympathy budget,” which are funds paid by Japan to cover the costs of having U.S. forces stationed in this nation.

The special supplemental accord to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement that is the legal basis for the sympathy budget will expire at the end of March, so the relocation costs will be incorporated in a new agreement that will come into effect from fiscal 2011, which starts on April 1, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara are expected to confirm the basic agreement on the transfer during a five-day visit to the United States by Maehara, scheduled to begin Thursday, according to the sources.

Maehara plans to sign a draft accord with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos shortly.

The government hopes the accord will gain Diet approval by the end of March, during the ordinary Diet session that begins this month.

Dear States, Watch Out for the Privatizers

By Jack Lohman from Commondreams.org

State after state is reporting dire financial conditions - California, Illinois, New Jersey, and even our own Wisconsin. The losses are so deep that only bankruptcy seems an option. But wait - there's another ploy coming to a theater near you! They've been preparing the soil and soon they'll spring it on us.

It's called privatizing.

It's always the same false claim: Private is more efficient than public. The public unions are impossible to work with, they'll say, and we have a corporation that can save us dollars.

Rarely is that true, especially after they add all of the exorbitant salaries, bonuses, shareholder profits, marketing and political bribes that must be passed on to the taxpayer. These costs usually far exceed government waste, unless offset by egregiously low salaries that further harm the economy.

Need proof? Privatized Medicare Advantage costs taxpayers 17 percent more than government Medicare, which provides care to 80 percent of our seniors. Privatized Blackwater troops in the Mideast cost five times what U.S. troops cost. But Blackwater executives give campaign dollars and our troops don't, so what else would you expect?

Politicians now have us right where they want us: desperate.

They'll take state assets - say, roads - and lease them to a private company, which will then add tolls and recoup their investment in 10 years and pocket the profits thereafter. And part of those profits will go to the friendly politicians.

Or the politicians will sell state-owned buildings and then lease them back so the private company can make the profits from the taxpayers. Or farm out housekeeping and security services to for-profit companies, as was done by Gov.-elect Scott Walker in Milwaukee.

Walker, as Milwaukee County executive, proposed leasing out Milwaukee's Mitchell Airport and then leasing it back to help the county financially. Fortunately, he was elected governor before that could be pulled off, but now the state must contend with similar crazy ideas. No successful airport privatizations have been implemented nationally, and higher airport and traveler fees would have been necessary.

It's the same old story, but will we ever learn?

We voters are too hung up on "our side" being right and "their side" being wrong, when in fact BOTH sides are corrupt. Republicans hate Democrats -- or the reverse -- when in fact we should be taxpayers who hate crooked politicians who bargain away our assets. And as long as we battle each other they are free to give away the store.

Politicians want us to believe that they have a handle on this whole economy thing, but they don't. All they know is that the guy sending the campaign check wants this or that, and if the politician wants the checks to continue, that guy will get his wish.

How much deeper into our pockets will we allow? Now is the time to say stop!

State assets are now on the line, and next comes privatizing water rights. Food is some ways off because family farms haven't all been bought off yet, but that time will come. Unless we have the gumption to stop the drain. NOW!

We must have 100 percent political turnover every two years until we get the politicians off the corporate dole.

Jack Lohman is a retired business owner from Colgate and author of “Politicians: Owned and Operated by Corporate America.” He is publisher ofhttp://MoneyedPoliticians.net and can be reached at jelohman@gmail.com

Lawmakers blast Senate for war claims removal

by Sabrina Salas Matanane from KUAM.com

Guam - Here at home the actions of the United States Senate led to an emotional final session of the 30th Guam Legislature, as lawmakers in their final remarks expressed their dissatisfaction with what happened an ocean away.

The final session of the 30th Guam Legislature was filled with frustration - one by one lawmakers in their final remarks blasting what happened in the nation's capitol. Committee chair on the Guam Military Buildup Senator Judi Guthertz said, "We need a unified position on this and a statement of frankly dissatisfaction with the members of the Senate that allowed this to happen and I would also like to get an explanation from our congresswoman to share with us and tell us what happened."

Another shot, albeit a compromise version for war reparations, failed again in Congress. Senator Ben Pangelinan said the Senate's action in removing the war reparations provision from the National Defense Bill is typical of the relationship Guam has with the United States.

"When it's something they need from us, then we are part of the family, but when it comes time to make your child support payment in this case, they don't want to give us a blank check, they don't want to give us a check," he said.

Senator Pangelinan says the Senate's action has emboldened him to renew the fight for self-determination. Sentiments echoed in his final comments as a senator, Governor-elect Eddie Calvo saying we have no full representation, that we are a colony and that Guam always seems to be in the short end.

Calvo added, "It is my commitment as governor that I will push for the Commission on Decolonization. I will work with my colleagues in the Guam First Commission and we will work collaboratively to getting ultimate political self-determination for our people and we will use these very dynamic times and we will leverage the importance of the united states has in regards to this island to the best benefits of our people."

Senators in the meantime during their final session passed 21 bills last night.

Okinawa wants all 12K Marines out

THURSDAY, 09 DECEMBER 2010 01:47 BY THERESE HART | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

A VISITING delegation from the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly says their government wants all of the 12,000 U.S. Marines out

File Photo

of the Japanese island, not just the estimated 8,600, who are scheduled to be moved to Guam starting 2012.

The delegation, led by Tetsuji Shinagaki of the Liberal Democratic Party, also told incumbent Speaker Judi Won Pat and other Guam lawmakers, Okinawa wants the Futenma Air Base removed from their island as opposed to relocating it to Camp Nago.

They also clarified that there is no truth to the story that came out in a Saipan newspaper that Okinawa would pay the U.S. to relocate some 4,000 more U.S. Marines to Tinian.

The delegation said that kind of decision is between the U.S. and Japanese governments and they are not aware of any decision being made, but Saipan leaders brought up the discussion.

The delegation said the Okinawa assembly passed a resolution urging Japan and the United States to modify their realignment of forces agreement so that the other Marines would also be relocated to Guam.

The delegation, which is scheduled to leave today, said newly-elected Okinawa Gov. Hirozaku Nakaima, stands and agrees on the same issues as the assembly.

The delegation reiterated that Okinawa makes up 0.6% of Japan’s territory but hosts 75 percent of U.S. military bases.

Okinawans have complained for decades about the unfair and unequal footprint left by the U.S.

The US military forces control 40 percent of Okinawan airspace and 29 ports.

The Okinawan delegation, all members of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, include the following: Tetsuji Shinagaki (Liberal Democratic Party); Kosuke Gushi (LDP); Masatoshi Onaga (LDP); Isho Urasaki (LDP); Hikaru Minei (LDP); Hiroko Tsujino (LDP); Zakimi Kazuyuki (LDP); Yoshihiko Yoshimoto (LDP); Sachio Kuwae (LDP); Kyoki Nakagawa (LDP); Dai Shimabukuro (LDP); Tomonori Itosu (New Komeito).

Nader: I am Looking for Someone to Challenge Obama in 2012

By Elise Viebeck from Commondreams. org

Perennial third-party candidate Ralph Nader predicted on Wednesday that President Obama's tax deal with Republicans will earn him a primary challenge in 2012.

Consumer advocate, author, and Presidential candidate Ralph Nader in this file photo. Nader had harsh words for the president's approach to politics: "He has no fixed principles. He's opportunistic — he goes for expedience, like Clinton." (NBC News)

Though he wouldn't rule out another presidential campaign himself, Nader, 76, said he hoped a new face would take up the progressive cause.

"I'm not foreclosing the possibility ... There are just other things to do," he said in an interview. "And it's time for someone else to continue. I've done it so many times. When I go around the country, I'm telling people they need to find somebody."

Nader, a consumer advocate, described the immense procedural difficulty - the "obstructions and litigations" - of appearing on the ballot in every state as a third-party candidate. He ran under the Green Party banner in 1996 and 2000 and as an independent in 2004 and 2008, and earned less than 3 percent of the overall vote each time.

He said Obama's decision to allow tax-cut extensions for the wealthy in the lame-duck deal betrays the progressives who supported his campaign in 2008 and called the president a "con man."

"There will be a primary," Nader said. "Just a question of how prominent a person [will run against Obama]. This deal is the last straw."

"Obama's position has been that the liberal, progressive wing has nowhere to go, therefore they can't turn their back on the administration. But a challenge will hold his feet to the fire and signal that we do have somewhere to go."

The tax deal, a blow to progressives, has prompted media speculation about such a challenge, although no names have been aired. Outgoing Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), one of the chamber's most reliably liberal voices, has said he's not interested.

"He [Obama] keeps one step away from the liberal progressive grasp," Nader said, describing the mood among on the left. "He's always just one step ahead from them grabbing his neck."

Nader had harsh words for the president's approach to politics: "He has no fixed principles. He's opportunistic - he goes for expedience, like Clinton. Some call him temperamentally conflict-averse. If you want to be harsher, you say he has no prlnciples and he's opportunistic."

"He's a con man. I have no use for him," Nader said.

In the 2000 election, Nader was criticized for contributing to Al Gore's defeat by taking votes from the left. He said then and again on Wednesday that the progressive agenda must be on the national ballot every four years.

"These are majoritarian positions. The polling shows that. Living wage, single payer, cracking down on corporate crime. ... It's time for someone to continue this."

Phillips intervenes in ancestral lands lawsuit

by Lannie Walker from KUAM.com

Guam - A hearing on a lawsuit brought against the Ancestral Lands Commission was postponed today in Superior Court. Attorney Curtis Van De Veld filed a class action lawsuit in July, claiming a public law that allows the transfer of ancestral properties at the former Federal Aviation Administration site and Marbo land to Tiyan landowners is inorganic.

Van De Veld was able to get a retraining order enforced against the ALC prohibiting it from issuing deeds to the land. Just this week Attorney Mike Phillips filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the Tiyan , including Benny Crawford, who said, "If you read his filing the law is legal there is nothing unconstitutional on it what was done is fair."

Van De Veld say he does not believe Phillips has an interest in the case as Assistant Attorney General William Bishcoff already represents the Ancestral Lands Commission. The status conference before Judge Arthur Barcinas to determine a schedule for the case was moved to January 7 of next year.

WWII survivors share stories at Dec. 8 Mass

BY SHAUN BEVAN • PACIFIC DAILY NEWS • DECEMBER 6, 2010

On the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Guam during World War II, four local war survivors will speak during a storytelling session at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica Museum in Hagåtña.

The session will begin Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. after Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica. Three of the four survivors spoke with the Pacific Daily News yesterday about their own unique experiences of life before, during and after the Japanese occupations.

Seventy-four-year-old Rita Cruz was five years old and in church when she first heard the bombings from Japanese naval ships off the coast of Guam on Dec. 8, 1941. At first, she thought it was thunder, but it wasn't until she was hit by a rock launched from a nearby blast that she knew it wasn't. As blasts shook the ground around her, Cruz's mother covered her and her sister closely, and told them to hang in there and keep very still.

Cruz recounts when she heard about the Japanese forces landing in Talofofo Bay and seeing the ships floating in the distance.

"My mother packed whatever stuff we had, first of all the food, and then we went into hiding," she said.

The family met up with several other families and lived by a river deep in the southern jungle, away from the Japanese forces who were settling in near the coast. Inevitably, they were found and made to work in the fields to support the Japanese military.

Once the Japanese forces were settled on the island Cruz began attending school taught by Saipanese teachers, who, at the time, were Japanese citizens. She recalls a time when she and classmates were forced outside to watch her mother be beaten by Saipanese men for refusing to bow her head to Japanese soldiers.

At five years old, Gloria Nelson, now 75, lived next to the Cathedral-Basilica and remembers the first notion of the war as the Cathedral bells warned of a impending attack.

"As a five-year-old, how much can you comprehend really?" she asked. "Other than what came from the elders."

As the bombings began in the southern part of the island, Nelson's family and many others gathered their belongings and trekked to Mongmong.

It was a different experience for Nelson who had ample time to evacuate into the jungle with what they could carry. But, soon enough, the food began to dwindle and she began to hear of the tribulations of war.

"When I started feeling something was wrong, as a young girl, was when a message came to us that my uncle was sent to prison in Japan," she said.

For Joaquin Flores Lujan, now 90, there wasn't much talk about the possibility of war, instead just warnings to stay alert. Lujan, 21 years old at the time, was a blacksmith who worked as a welder in a Navy machine shop. He remembers the first time he heard the Japanese airplanes soaring over the island and news of the bombings in the south.

During the Japanese occupation, Lujan's family befriended a Japanese general. The general often came to visit the family. Throughout the war, Lujan's family was allowed to continue working in their trade.

As the American forces made their attempts to retake the island, the Japanese general was killed and the protection ceased.

"I remember I was arrested by a Saipan man," he said. "I was brought out to a house where my uncle lived and they started to beat me with a baseball bat and used bamboo on my legs. Of course, back then, I was a young man and strong, so at that time, I carried the burden."