And of course in its next round of saber rattling, North Korea could certainly make a similar threat, leaving us only to hope that its ballistic missiles continue to be as inaccurate and unreliable as in the past.
As long since dawned on us here, given the worldwide development of ballistic missiles and the nuclear weapons that they are designed to carry, our large concentration of U.S. military installations smack in the middle of Asia makes Guam a highly attractive target for the usual suspects.
In exchange for providing its unique location for this war fighting capability, Guam has a reasonable expectation that it will receive at least the level of protection enjoyed by the civilian population stateside. Many of us take the “tip of the spear” phrase often mentioned by the military as a compliment, but that doesn’t mean we want to be blasted to smithereens like some forgotten island during World War II without a fight.
Earlier in our military buildup, we were told Guam would be protected by a missile defense system run by the Army, but by the time the Record of Decision was issued, this had turned into a competition with many other potential U.S. locations for such units, to be determined by a study, meaning we might not get one at all.
Questions about this last year led to a letter to Secretary Pfannenstiel seeking our elusive missile defense system, to which, in part, she replied, “I can assure you the Department of Defense is committed to ensuring the territories in the Pacific remain safe…” And she explained about the study.
That of course was as of October 2010, so I am hoping that the Chinese and the North Koreans will relax their ballistic missile-system development to accommodate our leisurely schedule.
Seriously, as I asked Secretary Pfannenstiel last year, “How can any other site compete with Guam for protection against a ballistic missile attack? Why is further study needed? Is the United States serious about making Guam a militarily significant strategic asset?”
Two things: First, military installations are much sought after, especially in such tough economic times. Should strategically located Guam be competing with Alabama for a missile defense system? Well, Alabama has two more U.S. senators and seven more voting congressmen than Guam.
Second, being abandoned in wartime is not a theoretical concept for those who have lived or know Guam’s history. As they know and they or their grandparents experienced, that’s what happened in 1941 as the native islanders were left at the mercy of a Japanese military regime until nearly the end of World War II. A good defense in the beginning would have been much preferable to the “liberation” that occurred in 1944. Alabama had a better war than we did.
I ask, again, in a letter sent recently, that Secretary Pfannenstiel “[p]lease provide some reassurance that the U.S. will defend Guam and not abandon us the way America did in the 1922 Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty and in the outbreak of war in 1941.
“I am [also] officially requesting that you issue a formal response stating that the U.S. will defend Guam,” I concluded.
I also ask that Washington and all its leaders remember to cover our back while we’re busy here in the Pacific covering theirs.
SEN. JUDITH P. GUTHERTZ
31st Guam Legislature
