Vieques Protest Backfires

strategypage ^

[budanski]

May 9, 2003: Bowing to political pressure, the Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico was closed earlier this month. While there are bombing and artillery ranges all over the United States, this was the first time shutting one down because a popular political cause. Eventually the politicians caved. But it turns out there will be consequences. The nearby Roosevelt Roads naval base serves mainly to support ships using the Vieques bombing range. The base is being closed. The base provided 1200 local civilians with jobs, as well as 700 military personnel. The base put $300 million a year into the local economy. The jobs, and the navy ships and aircraft, are moving north to Florida, where an existing bombing range will be used. The weather conditions are not as placid in Florida as in Puerto Rico, meaning there will be more training delays for bad weather, and the waters off Florida are more crowded, meaning more expense to keep areas clear when the warships and warplanes are exercising. The governor of Puerto Rico complained about the loss of the jobs, but he and his fellow Puerto Rican politicians never got behind the navy with support to keep Vieques open, and apparently missed the fact that Roosevelt Roads would close as a result. Moreover, the activists who wanted Vieques closed thought that the bombing range would be cleaned up (unexploded bombs removed) so the area could be bought by developers and tourist facilities built. But cleaning up the old bombs is too expensive, and the Vieques range is being turned over to the Department of the Interior for use as a wildlife refuge. The fence around the range will warn people to keep out, because of hundreds (no one knows exactly how many) unexploded bombs and shells in there. Agitating to get Congress to appropriate billions to clean up the Vieques site is likely to fail, there being so many other more worthy things to do with the money.

[SandyInSeattle]

Once again, the protesters didn't think through the consequences of their actions.

[Wonder Warthog]

Ooooppss!

[SunStar]

LOL!

[maeng]

Serves them right! All they want is America's money...

[MEG33]

The consequences of good intentions with no thought of the fallout.

[G L Tirebiter]

Hope we soon get to read similar stories about how folks in Germany are bemoaning the loss of U.S. bases there.

[JeeperFreeper]

Like the old adage says, "be careful what you ask for; you may get it."

[FreePaul]

Newton's laws of motion are pretty well defined and understood. Too bad that people don't understand the laws of political consequences as well. Too many are willing to demand change in order to show muscle but are not willing to live with the changes when they get them.

[KOZ.]

awwwwwwww developers arent going to build gambling casinos?
suckers.

[longtermmemmory]

same thing happened in greece. locals demanded two US military bases out. The US said ok. (we needed to close bases anyways) The politicians expected resistance not an agreement but it was too late. The bases are gone and their ecconomy suffered.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

(in my best Nelson voice...)

HAH HAH!

[SandyInSeattle]

Darn. I was hoping they'd put up a timeshare.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I'm thinking extremely uncharitable thoughts regarding the fools in question.

[Malesherbes]

Not to worry: the 1200 who lost jobs can move to New York City and go on welfare. They may, however, have to give up smoking.

[Billthedrill]

Moreover, the activists who wanted Vieques closed thought that the bombing range would be cleaned up (unexploded bombs removed) so the area could be bought by developers and tourist facilities built. But cleaning up the old bombs is too expensive, and the Vieques range is being turned over to the Department of the Interior for use as a wildlife refuge.

Something like this happened in Guam as well a few years back. Local developers thought to acquire some prime property and get rich; instead the local government got it. The protests magically evaporated after that. Imagine that.

[dfwgator]

Now let's get out of Puerto Rico altogether, and leave them to become another third-world hellhole.

[pepsionice]

I actually went on a vacation to Crete and stayed about a mile from the old base there. I walked up to the beautiful sandy beach and saw just an empty shell. No one lives in base housing. No commericial venture has moved in. And the locals all look back at the good years at all the money that rolled in. There are tourists in the local area but its not the same. At least the Americans were there all year round.

Puerto Rico probably will feel more of the pain as Xmas rolls around and less money in the pockets of the locals. The politicans will be stuck trying to figure out how to bring in more business and there really isn't anything they can do. The Caribbean is a dead-zone except for tourism and there isn't much to see or do in Puerto Rico.

[Porterville]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, BETTER DEAD THEN RED, YOU COMMIE CHE LOVING PIGS

[Paleo Conservative]

Too bad the federal government didn't buy the whole island during WWII.

[longtermmemmory]

The Heraklion airbase is still active. It was used during the recent conflict.

[KOZ.]

that was beautiful!

[longtermmemmory]

opps forgot to add. Its also why the greeks support an eu army. If they get a few bases thats money in their pockets.

[Enterprise]

Speaking of world class fools, a few years ago the Phillippine Government didn't renew the 400 million dollar lease for Clark Airforce Base to the U.S. Uh, ok, Clark Airforce Base was closed and operations moved elsewhere. A short time later Mt. Pinatubo blew up. Man oh man, would that EVER have been a good time to have the U.S. there in terms of manpower and lots of money.

[JimRed]

the Vieques range is being turned over to the Department of the Interior for use as a wildlife refuge.

From useful to useless in one fell swoop!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Yeah! And take all the rum!

[Broker]

There is another angle. It was the NY politcians who stirred up this mess. When things go bad in PR, they leave for NYC and they Vote.

[Jay D. Dyson]

Yet one more object lesson in the principle that if you bite the hand that feeds you, you're liable to wind up with a mouthful of fist.

Not that I expect the loony protesters to grok that simple fact...

-Jay

[God luvs America]

good...screw 'em! they can sell sand now!

[Jack of all Trades]

I think I read recently that some protesters destroyed a bunch of vehicles at the base after it was shut down as a final poke in the eye to Uncle Sam. Turns out that the Navy had already donated them to the local government.

[mabelkitty]

Tough.

Perhaps they should become a state.

[4Freedom]

Don't celebrate the closing of Roosevelt Roads Naval Station just yet. There's another Presidential election coming up in the United States.

U.S. Congressman, Jose Serrano, told ABC's John Stossel that President George Bush will order the Navy to keep Roosevelt Roads Base open, regardless of how useless the Navy says it is.

Got to pander to the Hispanic vote don't you know?

Base Yes, Bombs No: Do Vieques Protesters Want It Both Ways?

As far as the billions required to clean the entire island of Vieques up for the developers, the panderers have that one figured out, too.

Vieques will be declared a 'Super Fund Site' by the EPA's, Christy Todd Whitman.

The Bush Administration will then see to it that as many billions of the U.S. Taxpayer's hard-earned dollars as are necessary are squandered on the clean-up of Vieques.

I doubt the Interior Dept. of the U.S. will own an acre on Vieques in 5 years.

The anti-American, ingrates in Puerto Rico will have the last laugh on the U.S. Taxpayers. They know how to work our system and to pressure our politicians.

Most U.S. Taxpayers don't have a clue.

[Eala]

Once again, the protesters didn't think through the consequences of their actions.

Do they ever?

[4Freedom]

"Perhaps they should become a state."

Bite your tongue!

The island's populated with approx. 4 million Leftist/Socialist/Marxist/Liberals that would hand control of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of our government to the Left for all time.

[Leatherneck_MT]

LOL

Now that was funny.

[citizen]

I've said for a few years that this isn't a big loss for the US military, the logical replacement choice should be....

France

[4Freedom]

This is a big loss for the U.S. Taxpayers.

We owned 24,000 acres on Vieques and 11,000 on Puerto Rico at Roosevelt Roads. We've paid for billions of dollars in infrastructure at both installations.

We're going to give it all away for free after the EPA spends billions of dollars more of our money to clean it all up.

I see a lot of FReepers laughing on this thread, but we're the ones that are getting screwed.

[CyberAnt]

Exactly! These ultra-left wing useful idiots never look beyond the INSTANT GRATIFICATION of their desires being met!!

Geeeee ... isn't that what abortion is all about ...??

[genefromjersey]

I'd say the protestors DID think about what they were doing !

From what I've been able to learn, they were a mix of greedy realtors,vote-hungry politicians, Fidelistas , and other assorted Marxists.

The Marxist contingent wanted the removal of Roosevelt Roads,from which US Naval patrols had run fairly effective interceptions of "cocaine ships", and from which Tio Fidel and his Merrymen could be kept under surveillance.

Now that the Navy has been removed, and money is getting tighter, the Marxists have fertile soil in which to sow their poison - on what is no-passports-required American territory.

For the people - a loss. For the Marxists, a win-win situation !

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

What part of Guam? Polaris point? NAS? Naval Station? Anderson AFB? Naval Communications station? Naval Weapons station?

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Pinatubo blew about 2 months before Clark was to start closing. Had some good friends there at the time and they lost 90% of their belongings during the evacuation. The Filipino Government demanded that we come back and clean up the base, but we said "Sorry, ours for just the next several months and it isn't worth it for us to clean up just to have to abandon again."

[Billthedrill]

No, this was some beach property down on the (I believe) northeast end that had been claimed by the descendants of the families who had originally donated it to the Japanese Navy prior to WWII, who decided that their claim was more valid than that of the U.S. Navy. But there were conflicting claims to the same land, so in a moment of Solomon-like revelation the Navy ceded the land to the local government to resolve the claims of the various ancient - and some of them actually were, by all reports - families.

Well, the dirt came out somewhat later that several competing chains of Japanese resort hotels had their fingers in the claims and in the nearly incessant protests. I believe the Prince was one of these but don't quote me (this was in the early 90s). I don't know what the actual upshot of the affair was, but while I was visiting the government was threatening to do just what happened in the story, turn the land into a wildlife preserve and not let it be developed at all. It was amazing how quickly the tumult and shouting died down after that.

[Enterprise]

Yeah, I probably got the time line a bit wrong.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

I know when I was there in the late 70's, the navy had to cede half of Cocos island to some Chamarros who proved that they owned it. There was some talk of putting an amusement park there, but I don't know if anything came of it.