Posted on 06/27/2002 2:50:11 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Would you ask a doctor to operate on you who had never performed surgery? Of course not, but every day, we are sending our troops into harm's way without the critical training they need and deserve in order to complete and survive their missions.
The USS Kitty Hawk is the only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier in the world. She and her Battle Group must be ready to meet a crisis anywhere in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean on a moment's notice. Her air wings are to be strike ready at all times, which means they must drop a certain number of bombs on a given target in a given time, as bombing is a perishable skill.
Farallon de Medinilla, a deserted island out in the middle of nowhere, some 150 miles north of Guam, is critical to that training. However, in May, the Kitty Hawk's CVW-5 air wing, was not able to complete its scheduled training there because of a suit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, charging that this training violates the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Migrating birds are about the only life forms that get near the island known as FDM, because we have been using it for target practice for the last 25 years. However, training there has been off and on ever since an activist Clinton-appointed judge, Emmett Sullivan, ruled that the Navy had to get a permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service because a handful of birds, who just happen to fly by at the wrong time, might accidentally be killed or simply upset.
What about the pilots, seamen, Navy Seals and support troops who accidentally might be killed because their units have not had the opportunity to coordinate and practice their critical skills? In a sworn statement, Rear Admiral Robert F. Willard, deputy commander in chief and chief of staff, U.S Pacific Fleet said that unless CVW-5 can complete its scheduled training, "Air-wing readiness levels will degrade significantly by mid-summer."
Unfortunately, the problem the military is having at Farallon de Medinilla is not unique. This spring, the military asked key members of Congress to help pass legislation to grant it relief from the myriad of environmental laws that have been used by green extremists to severely limit its ability to train. Over the years, radical environmental groups and green extremists who have careered-in to key federal agencies have used these laws to lock up thousands of acres of land on military bases all across this land.
The House of Representatives attached a modest measure to the Defense authorization bill and the green extremists screamed bloody murder. Then, a funny thing happened. When the Senate took up the bill, the screaming stopped. That's because the fix was in.
James Jeffords, I-Vt., the chairman of the Committee on the Environment and Public Works, and his buddies who chair the four environmental subcommittees, Barbara Boxer D-Calif., Joseph Lieberman D-Conn., Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., successfully had the measure stripped from the Senate version.
However, on July 9, due to a lot of pressure by Bob Smith R-N.H., Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and John Warner, R-Va., three senators who sit on Jeffords' committee as well as the Armed Services Committee, there will be a belated hearing on this critical matter. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have been given an opportunity to testify – but will they be allowed to do so? If they are permitted to testify, will they be allowed to speak their minds?
A Pentagon attorney was scheduled to talk about these problems on my radio show, but at the last minute he bailed. Why? The press office would not clear it.
Mum also is the word from conservative groups that would be mobilizing their troops if asked to help. Mum is the word from key columnists who would be writing articles on this critical life-and-death issue with only the slightest encouragement.
More troubling, mum is the word from the bully pulpit of the president. Is the commander in chief of the most powerful country in the free world unmindful of the plight of the military, or is he simply reluctant to take on the radical environmental groups?
Mr. President, look at the courage of Arizona Gov. Jane Hull, who boldly pointed out what green extremists have done to the forests.
Mr. President, you can win this issue. It not only is the right thing to do, it would make a great campaign issue in the fall. The public will support you on this, if only you will support our troops.
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