THE people of the Marianas are intentionally burdened by processes not meant to serve their home’s interests. What is happening in the Mariana Islands is connected to escalating global tensions. As military colonies of the United States, our communities are overwhelmed by formal comment periods for military actions that occur simultaneously with the constant use of our lands and waters for war training and testing. Additionally, lethal war jets reportedly transited through our islands on their way to drop bombs on Iran.
Two public commenting periods are now open to respond to war games and testing in the Marianas, but many are not aware of them and even more feel ill-equipped to participate in these processes:
1) The comment period for the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the CNMI Joint Military Training (CMJT) for Tinian is open until August 20,2025. The CMJT includes land-based expeditionary ground and aviation warfare training for all service components within lands leased by the military on the island of Tinian in the CNMI. Meetings are being held in Tinian from (June 23-24), Saipan (June 25-26), and Rota (June 27).
2) The comment period to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement for the Mariana Islands Training and Testing is open until July 22, 2025. The supplemental EIS is to assess the potential environmental effects associated with proposed “modernization” changes, subsurface targets, training minefields, and placement of temporary instrumentation in the study area. This is specific to “military readiness exercises” at sea and at No’os or Farallon de Medenilla.
We are also experiencing simultaneous war drills: REFORPAC.
The Pacific Air Forces-led multilateral exercise, Resolute Force Pacific will take place from July 7 through August 8 in Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. REFORPAC will include explosive ordinance and fly-over drills. These war drills will deploy approximately 500 personnel to Saipan, around 115 personnel in Tinian, and 25 in Rota. REFORPAC is anticipated to be significantly larger than Mobility Guardian 23 (a 2023 U.S Air Force led exercise conducted as part of the Indo-Pacific theater), with nearly 300 aircrafts spread across 25 locations with partner nations REFORPAC is designed to test and strengthen the Air Force’s ability to mobilize and project U.S. power in the Pacific, particularly in response to potential threats. REFORPAC is integrated with the joint US-Australia exercise Talisman Sabre, which has expanded to include a dozen countries. Mobility Guardian (specifically MG23) served as a foundation and “proving ground” for testing concepts and capabilities that will be further expanded upon and tested in the larger-scale REFORPAC exercise. Talisman Saber happens every other year, while the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war games, the world’s largest maritime warfare exercise, take place every opposite year. This means the Pacific is annually burdened with continuous massive and destructive war games.
Our islands’ role in bombing Iran
On Sunday, the United States attacked Iran. This attack supports the genocidal Israeli regime in their unprovoked attacks on Iran. The U.S. dropped bombs at three sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program despite the Director of U.S. Intelligence’s March testimony before Congress that established that Iran was not in immediate danger of developing a nuclear weapon. Still, multiple American Air Force B-2 stealth bombers were dispatched to Guam overnight from Missouri, just hours before the U.S. attack. The U.S. has also moved refueling tankers to Guam and other parts of the Pacific.
The U.S. attack on Iran is in violation of the UN Charter, international law, and the U.S. Constitution. This makes it illegal. The attacks threaten to destabilize the region and provoke a global war that will facilitate nuclear contamination, massive death tolls, and other devastating consequences. The U.S. has been attempting to exert imperial dominance over Iran since the 1950s and 1970s. The U.S. is the primary supplier of Israel’s weapons and uses taxpayer money to do so. These weapons are used to help Israel attack Iran and continue to execute ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine.
Despite Trump’s campaign promises to put an end to “forever wars,” he and Netanyahu continue to lie about Iran’s nuclear weapons program. There is only one country with nuclear weapons in the Middle East: Israel; and America is the only country that has used nuclear weapons in warfare. The same rhetoric and propaganda employed by President Bush regarding “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq are being used today regarding Iran. The effects of the catastrophic war in Iraq resulted in permanent destruction and destabilization that still impacts the world today. A war with Iran will surely have the same devastating impacts.
We condemn the strikes in Iran, and we call for an end to all military intervention. We also condemn U.S. funded genocide, ecocide, and occupation in Palestine.
It is all connected.
As colonies of the United States, the Mariana Islands continue to be forced into conflicts not of our people’s making. After decades of displacement and political disenfranchisement, our communities are now in subservient positions that force an obligation to extend our lands, airspace, and waters for use in America’s never-ending cycle of war. Furthermore, our communities currently face intense environmental degradation and growing housing and food insecurity as a result of U.S. military expansion. Like other Pacific Islanders, we are also overrepresented disproportionately in the military and in combat. Meanwhile prices on imported food, fuel, and essential goods will continue to rise with inflation and war. While we fight for decolonization and the demilitarization of our islands, we must also remember that it is all connected. Protesting the invasion of Iran and genocide in Palestine are part of protesting our own disempowerment and vulnerability. Standing in solidarity against these illegal acts of war also supports protesters and immigrants in the continental U.S. who have been targeted by militarized violence.
Prutehi Guåhan, Our Common Wealth 670, and Mariånas for Palestine call for an end to war at home and abroad and demand a nuclear free Pacific and world.
PRUTEHI GUÅHAN
OUR COMMON WEALTH 670
MARIÅNAS FOR PALESTINE
