Funding the military occupation of Hawaii


The Advertiser and Star-Bulletin report on the nearly half a billion dollars has been allocated by Congress for the military occupation of Hawaii, bringing the total for the year to nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

"The bill would provide $18.4 million for the last installment of a 10-year, $400 million effort to remove unexploded munitions from Kaho'olawe," the sacred island that the U.S. and RIMPAC used for target practice for decades. The Navy's agreement handing over the island to the state stipulated that it would go to a sovereign Hawaiian government when one was formed, an interesting acknowledgment at the time, that sovereignty in some form was coming, but also a supreme insult - we'll bomb the hell out of your island and then let you have that for your reservation. Of course the restoration efforts have been slow and underfunded, and the island is still largely uninhabitable.

The article mentions that "The bill also would remove a $5 million cap on a federal loan program for Native American veterans, including Native Hawaiians, that caused trouble for several home loans in Hawai'i this year." So is it correct to assume that in previous years Native Americans and Native Hawaiians, who have served at the highest rate per capita of any people in the U.S. military, and with much decoration, were specifically discriminated against by having a cap that applied only to them? "'This program has helped Native Hawaiian veterans and Native American veterans take advantage of a benefit provided all other veterans,' said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i." Apparently so.

The article also mentioned the Stryker brigade, the readiness of which was questioned earlier in a Seattle Times article.


Posted: Fri - September 26, 2003 at 10:50 AM    
   
 
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Published On: Dec 27, 2005 10:16 PM
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