Hasta la vista, baby!

[Ripsnort]

Snopes says True

Remember when Puerto Rico was raising hell about the US Navy using that nothing little island just off the coast of Puerto Rico for bombing practices, which they had used for the past 75 years?  Demonstrations were held, Hollywood left wingers, Al Sharpton, and his fellow demagogues went down there to demonstrate to get the Navy out?  I am sure it infuriated you just as it did me at the time.  Wellllllllllllllll, here is our revenge.

Always be careful what you ask for, you just may get it!

One of the many headaches that the U. S. has had was the Puerto Rican Island of Vieques. In the waning years of the Clinton Administration, Protesters demanded that the US Navy abandon bombing and naval gunfire exercises that had taken place on the largely uninhabited island for nearly seventy years. Liberal icons bumped into one another to fly to Puerto Rico, boat over to the island, trespass (but never on a day that there was an exercise scheduled) and get arrested for the benefit of the New York Times or Newsweek. They included:

Reverend Al Sharpton,
Mrs. Jesse Jackson,
Joan Baez,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,
Edward Olmos,
Michael Moore and
Ramsey Clark, just to name a few.


In 2002, the bombing exercises were transferred to an Air Force bombing range in central Florida, not far from the Jacksonville and Pensacola Naval Air Stations. In January, many of the protesters were back in Puerto Rico, celebrating the final bombing exercise on Vieques and waved Puerto Rican flags and placards that read :  "U.S. Navy, get out of Puerto Rico."

The following February, Rumsfeld announced that the U.S. Navy will close the Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station in Puerto Rico in 2004, eliminating 1200 civilian jobs as well as 700 military positions. This naval facility is estimated to have put nearly $300 million annually into the local economy.

The next day a stunned Governor Sila Calderon, held a news conference in San Juan, protesting the base closure as a serious blow to the Commonwealth's fragile economy. The governor stated that "The people of Puerto Rico don't now or never did have an interest in closing the Vieques bombing range or the Roosevelt Roads naval base. We are interested in both staying in Puerto Rico."

When asked, the Commander-in Chief, Western Atlantic Command, said, "Without Vieques, I see no further need for the facility at Roosevelt Roads. None."  So, Yanqui go home? Fine. But we'll take our dollars with us. Hasta la vista, baby!

On February 21, the Secretary of Defense also announced that starting this year, the U.S. European Command would begin moving most if not all of its active combat and support units from bases in Germany to others being established in Poland, The Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey to "better position them for rapid deployment to likely hot spots in those parts of the world."

Immediately the business and government leaders in the German states of Hesse, Rhineland and Wurttemburg, protested the loss of nearly $6 billion in revenue each year from the bases and manpower to be displaced. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry speculated that the move may be "what the Americans call 'payback' for the actions of this government in opposing Military action in Iraq.

" Does anyone know the German translation for  "Hasta la vista, baby?"

Oh, ain't it nice to see a government with guts and a good memory.  

               GOD BLESS AMERICA

Be careful what you ask for Libs!

[storch]

I was stationed aboard a Destroyer in Mayport Fl. and Vieques was where we went to shoot.  I was surprised to see the big deal being made by protestors back in 1999.  IIRC the habited portion of Vieques was used for cattle grazing.  The Puerto Rican ranchers had a lucrative arrangement with the Navy for the compensation of killed or injured livestock.  If business was slow......  periodically diseased animals would be allowed to wander and graze on the firing range side of the island.  I'm sure the inhabitants of Vieques are very sorry to see the Navy go.  WTG Pentagon take our bases and dollars where we are appreciated.  Silly Liberals.

[Sandman]

NM

[midnight Target]

So did Puerto Rico want the Navy out of Vieques or didn't they? Are you implying that a small group of stateside liberals changed the policy of PR? Are you drunk or .........?

[AKIron]

We get mixed signals from a lot of countries. They hate us but love our money. South Koreans have protested our presence for decades, they get real quiet when we talk of pulling out.

[ASTAC]

They wanted us (the Navy) out of Vieques...They didn't expect we'd close all the other facilities..now we moved out and they are cryin'...oh well...

I say to them Become a state or get out (we'd never stop em from leaving)

[Goth]

I am becoming very satisfied with the decisions to pull out. Being a cold war veteran, it was needed....not so any longer. Time to pull out of these places that think they don't need us any longer.

[SOB]

Who is "They"?  The article makes it clear that a couple of celebrities and politicians, as well as some protesting citizens of Puerto Rico wanted us out, but it made no clear mention of the position of the government of Puerto Rico, except for the part where the Governer stated they all wanted the base and the bombing range to stay.

[Dago]

Seems as though a loud and clear message was heard from PR itself.

Another linkA good read, letters in the PR Herald
More stuff:

Saludos desde Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

We are a support group on the western end of the main island of Puerto
Rico for the struggle of our island municipality of Vieques. Our struggle
wants the US Navy to stop bombing, leave, clean up the toxic wastes and
then give the land back to the people of Vieques so they might develop it
to the benefit of all the people of Vieques. Our first two objectives
have been met but we are still working on the others.

• http://www.iacenter.org/puerto_rico.htm

 

SCHEDULE for February 16 Vieques events in Washington, DC (Note room assignments and new times for meeting with Congressman Gutierrez and Congressional Briefing):

10:00AM PRESS CONFERENCE, at the United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, N.E., across from the U.S. Supreme Court.

1:30PM-2:00PM MEETING with The Honorable Luis Gutierrez, Congressman from Illinois, on Capitol Hill (Room 2220 Rayburn House Office Building).

2:00PM-3:00PM: CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING ON VIEQUES, on Capitol Hill (Room 2220 Rayburn House Office Building).

4:00PM DEMONSTRATION IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE, on Lafayette Park and the White House sidewalk.

Except for the 1:30PM meeting with Congressman Gutierrez, the media is invited and encouraged to attend all events.
http://www.viequeslibre.org

About Vieques:

Vieques fishermen blocking US Navy military maneuvers
on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Vieques, an inhabited island of 9,400, off the east coast of Puerto Rico, has been occupied by the US Navy since 1941 and used as a bombing range for live ammunition, shelling, strafing, and illegal chemicals such as napalm and depleted uranium, contributing to deaths, injuries and a cancer rate among Viequenses which is 26.9% higher than the rest of Puerto Rico. After a US Navy bomb dropped in Vieques killed David Sanes, a Viequense civilian, and injured four others on April 19, 1999, the movement to get the US Navy out of Vieques was intensified and several civil disobedience camps were established in the Live Impact Area, where protesters have been acting as human shields against further bombing, which President Clinton has announced may begin in March. Please join the representatives of the civil disobedience camps in Vieques on Feb. 16, when they will be in Washington in order to reiterate the demands of "not one more bullet, not one more bomb" and provide updates and reports on the situation in Vieques. For more information, please access http://www.viequeslibre.org, The Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, PO Box 1424, Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765, e-mail: bieke@coqui.net.

[Rude]

I reckon you cannot have your cake and eat it too.

Some of you folks need to realize, that in this world, we have no real allies cept a few....the others just love our cake.

[-MZ-]

--On February 21, the Secretary of Defense also announced that starting this year, the U.S. European Command would begin moving most if not all of its active combat and support units from bases in Germany to others being established in Poland, The Czech Republic, Hungary and Turkey to "better position them for rapid deployment to likely hot spots in those parts of the world." --

What a huge waste of our money.   How much more 'rapidly' could they deploy from Poland to the Middle East than from Germany?  A half an hour?  Not counting the years it will take to put in the infrastructure.

[AKWeav]

" Does anyone know the German translation for "Hasta la vista, baby?"

Auf Wiedersaenn! Fil gluck mit dine neuest gashaft!

[Dago]

Originally posted by -MZ-
-ey.   How much more 'rapidly' could they deploy from Poland to the Middle East than from Germany?  A half an hour?  Not counting the years it will take to put in the infrastructure.

Read between the lines.  Maybe opposing us when we are trying to build support for an action has consequences?  Ever thought of that?

Some might say it is to punish Germany, others might say it serves as a reminder to some nations that the dollars they enjoy being pumped into their economy isn't a guaranteed thing and those dollars might come at some type of price.

We weren't trying to buy support, but we sure as hell shouldn't be paying someone to oppose us either.

dago

[-MZ-]

Originally posted by Dago
Read between the lines.  Maybe opposing us when we are trying to build support for an action has consequences?  Ever thought of that?

dago

I'd rather save the billions for something other than a symbolic gesture.  Our military has a purpose, and it isn't to promote international economic development.

[airguard]

Save your billions, in 75 years from now (unfortantly) China is gonna rule the world so we (the western world) should have fun now when we can