{"id":8850,"date":"2011-05-25T19:43:22","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T04:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8850"},"modified":"2011-07-19T13:20:52","modified_gmt":"2011-07-19T21:50:52","slug":"pagat-%e2%80%98sweeteners%e2%80%99-leave-a-bitter-taste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8850","title":{"rendered":"P\u00e5gat \u2018sweeteners\u2019 leave a bitter taste"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Navy has displayed its arrogance and hostility towards the people Guahan (Guam) once again with a leaked email that basically calls for bribing the local residents in order to “isolate” opponents of military expansion plans in the P\u00e5gat cultural area.\u00a0\u00a0 See the article below from the Marianas Variety<\/a> and the incriminating email.<\/p>\n

Here’s a copy of the email:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In March, I wrote about contract anthropologists JKA Group<\/a> who wrote several op ed pieces in favor of the military build up in Guam and the Pacific.\u00a0\u00a0 This same outfit was hired by the Marines in 1997 to counter community opposition to Marine Corps training in Makua valley in Hawai’i.<\/p>\n

At the time they described their assignment on their website<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Prior to JKA\u2019s involvement, the NEPA process was being \u201ccaptured\u201d by organized militants from the urban zones of Hawaii. The strategy of the militants was to disrupt NEPA by advocating for the importance of Makua as a sacred beach. As community workers identified elders in the local communities, the elders did not support the notion of a sacred beach-\u201dWhat, you think we didn\u2019t walk on our beaches?\u201d They pointed to specific sites on the beach that were culturally important and could not be disturbed by any civilian or military activity. As this level of detail was injected into the EA process, the militants were less able to dominate the process and to bring forward their ideological agenda. They had to be more responsible or lose standing in the informal community because the latter understood: \u201chow the training activity, through enhancements to the culture, can directly benefit community members. Therefore, the training becomes a mutual benefit, with the community networks standing between the military and the activists.<\/p>\n

Now compare that passage to this excerpt from the Navy email regarding Guam:<\/p>\n

Groups opposing Marine relocation are successfully seizing on P\u00e5gat as a means to gain legitimacy with the public \u2013 need to take the issue off the table to isolate them. \u201cSweeteners” will be needed to garner GovGuam\/Legislature support to remove firing range restrictions on Rt. 15 properties and to obtain Legislature approval of Chamorro Land Trust lease of properties below the cliff-line. Some members of the Legislature will attempt to block all land acquisition until other issues with Fed Govt are resolved \u2013 need to give Legislature a deal they can\u2019t refuse.<\/p>\n

These disclosures come on the heels of the derogatory statements<\/a> about Okinawans by State Department official Kevin Maher.\u00a0 Maher’s statements caused an uproar in Japan and Okinawa and forced his resignation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

>><<<\/p>\n

http:\/\/mvguam.com\/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18256:pagat-sweeteners-discussed&catid=59:frontpagenews<\/a><\/p>\n

P\u00e5gat \u2018sweeteners\u2019 discussed <\/a><\/h2>\n
\n
Thursday, 26 May 2011 04:16\t\t \t \t\t\t \t\t\tby Therese Hart | Variety News Staff<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

LOCAL activists and many island residents continue to question the sincerity of military and federal officials who speak of the buildup, even after officials assured them that discussions and plans on the P\u00e5gat issue are aboveboard and transparent.<\/p>\n

A September 2010 email correspondence obtained by Variety among former Joint Guam Program Office Executive Director David Bice, Joe Ludovici, who has since taken over Bice\u2019s position, and Capt. John Scorby, executive assistant to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Energy Installations & Environment, gives a glimpse of the strategies and mindset of the military with regard to the P\u00e5gat issue.<\/p>\n

Scorby emailed Ludovici on Sept. 27, requesting that Ludovici provide a brief of P\u00e5gat to include \u201csweeteners\u201d the Undersecretary needed for a briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the DON staff meeting today with the Under, he asked that JGPO develop a brief on possible \u2018sweeteners\u2019 to get us over the P\u00e5gat issue. He indicated that this was going to be briefed at the next GOC, currently scheduled for Oct. 21. I don\u2019t have a due date, but he indicated he was looking for the brief \u2018soon.\u2019 I\u2019ll get more fidelity on that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bice responded, stating he had a discussion with \u201cMs. P last week,\u201d and believed a \u201csuccessful Route 15 acquisition strategy will require elimination all impacts to P\u00e5gat historic village in the near term, and finding mutual accommodations with race track until expiration of land use license; \u2018book end\u2019 COA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bice further wrote, \u201cWe can get all of the land eventually, including an SDZ (surface danger zone) over P\u00e5gat; we have to be patient and build trust with the community first.<\/p>\n

\u201cGroups opposing Marine relocation are successfully seizing on P\u00e5gat as a means to gain legitimacy with the public \u2013 need to take the issue off the table to isolate them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweeteners will be needed to garner GovGuam\/Legislature support to remove firing range restrictions on Rt. 15 properties and to obtain Legislature approval of Chamorro Land Trust lease of properties below the cliff-line. Some members of the Legislature will attempt to block all land acquisition until other issues with Fed Govt are resolved \u2013 need to give Legislature a deal they can\u2019t refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaker\u2019s reaction<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Variety shared the email with Speaker Judi Won Pat, her reaction was quick, pointed, heated and then, resigned:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows how disingenuous they are, and it seems they are engaging in some type of covert activity. … They say they are being honest and upfront with us, yet, here\u2019s proof that they are conniving behind our backs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe respond to the DEIS and FEIS, because they asked us to. We play by their rules and this is what they do to us. It\u2019s very hurtful. We\u2019ve been very trusting. They tell us that they\u2019re listening to us. Perhaps this is the problem. We\u2019re so trusting, we\u2019re so welcoming; and yet, this is what we get from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Speaker said she was reminded of a past incident when We Are Gu\u00e5han member Cara Flores Mays was having lunch at a local restaurant and overheard a conversation between military personnel and Guam residents, one of them, Lee Webber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey treat us like we are the enemy and we\u2019re not. We want this to work for our people too. Is that too much to ask. I\u2019m very upset about this,\u201d said Won Pat.<\/p>\n

Won Pat was referring to a November 2010 conversation that Mays overheard, which included then-Joint Guam Program Office Director of Communications for Washington D.C. and Guam Paula Conhain, Lee Webber, a former Marine, and Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar of the Marine Force Pacific Public Affairs Office. Conhain has since been removed from this position.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Navy has displayed its arrogance and hostility towards the people Guahan (Guam) once again with a leaked email that basically calls for bribing the local residents in order to “isolate” opponents of military expansion plans in the P\u00e5gat cultural area.\u00a0\u00a0 See the article below from the Marianas Variety and the incriminating email. Here’s a … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “P\u00e5gat \u2018sweeteners\u2019 leave a bitter taste”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,56],"tags":[48,2409],"class_list":["post-8850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oahu","category-pacific","tag-makua","tag-movements-resistance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8850"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8852,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8850\/revisions\/8852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}