History

If anyone believes that colonization is a memory of the distant past, all you have to do is re-examine the current relationship that that Marianas has with the United States military. Although most would argue that the military as an institution is a necessary part of living in today’s world, the residents of the CNMI and Guam are invited to take a step back and scrutinize the so called “freedoms” that the U.S. military claims to provide in this region.  In the midst of the military build-up scheduled to occur in the upcoming years, there is no better time to question the motives behind this project, as no single person will be exempt from its harmful effects.  It is time that we promote respectful and healthy discussion about our future in the Marianas in order to exercise our rights as citizens and human beings alike.  

The most important thing to understand is that the United States has never been interested in the Marianas for any other reason other than for military purposes.  Therefore, the various economic opportunities that this build-up claims it will provide will almost exclusively center on growth for military personnel with benefits barely trickling out into local populations. This means that the creation of infrastructure as a result of this build-up will only appear to be contributing to the economic growth and development of Guam and the CNMI, while its purpose is to provide the necessary resources for further military expansion.  Noel Grogan expands on this notion by explaining that, “when the American military establishment builds roads, repairs airports, constructs sewer systems or water systems in a country (or colonial possession) it does so only to further the security of the United States, and not to develop the country (or colony) in question.” (1) Therefore we should also not be fooled by the military’s promise to provide security for the Marianas region.  It is a promise that only provides a false hope for the residents of Guam and the CNMI. Unfortunately, “the American military must sacrifice any development, any country, any colony, any people in order to maintain the security of the United States mainland.” (2) Therefore, although it is common belief that the U.S. is here to protect our islands, we are actually made more vulnerable to other nations who view the U.S. as a threat. Our existence in the world of international politics and the global economy should not have to depend on our ties with the U.S. military, but on ourselves. Furthermore, why do we have to be bombarded with such a strong military presence before we get protection?

Unfortunately, our military relations with the U.S. have created an open avenue for the United States to maintain almost full access in to these islands, in every sense of the word. Anthropologist Dr. Catherine Lutz explains that the “US military and civilian personnel work to shape local legal codes to facilitate US access.” (3) She then goes on to explain that “”military diplomacy” with local civil and military elites is conducted not only to influence legislation but also to shape opinion in what are delicately called “host” countries.” (4) Therefore, we must take into account that welcoming a bigger military base means welcoming an entirely new level of control from America. In addition, to understand bases “and how they are being used is essential for understanding  the United States’ relationship with the rest of the world, the role of coercion in it, and its political economic complexion.” (5) The people of the Marianas are therefore left to determine where we fit into the broader U.S. political and militaristic agenda in hopes of understanding just how little our opinions have mattered in the past, and how we can no longer stand for this outright disregard for the voice of the indigenous people.

With all this being said, nobody can ignore the fact that the American military has “provided immediate assistance in life and health threatening emergencies” (6) for many years in this region. These are aspects of the military that are admirable and hospitable, but in the long run, they are things that we should not have to give our life and land up for in order to receive.  Providing medical care and emergency aid to this area of the world by the U.S. military should be considered humanitarian, not a trade off.  After all, it is not as if the people of the Marianas have not sacrificed anything for the military to maintain such a stronghold in the region. Many people in the Marianas and Micronesia as well may feel that they somehow owe the United States for all that they have done as a country to help us.  Yet, nobody saved the Chamorro people in WWII, our people were merely innocent bystanders.The Indigenous people of the Marianas were the casualties of war. Therefore, we do not owe our lives for any one, any country or any amount of economic gain.  

We must look at the total effects of the military build-up in the long run and examine the various ways that we will be made more dependent on such an institution and even more so, on the American government.  In the midst of an economic crisis, we need to be especially careful that our political dealings with the U.S. military are not made hastily and without an intense amount of community involvement.  We live in one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world, just miles away from the Marianas Trench, and we cannot think of anything other than the military to depend on for so called “economic gain”? What this really shows, is how our leaders aren’t necessarily trying to figure out how to best promote self-sufficiency and freedom, but are looking for a quick and easy answer to problems that our governments are facing.  While it is especially hard to deny  an “opportunity” such as the build-up while our islands are suffering, we must understand that many of these promises are empty and untrue and will force us to depend so strongly on an yet another institution that, when gone, will lead us back to square one. Such dependency will never lead to healthy and sustainable islands for future generation to enjoy. Depending on ourselves is much more difficult and will not be easy, but it is time that we make our own decisions, instead of letting colonial powers make them for us.

Why did the Marianas become so strategically important and why does this matter?

It was only during WWII, that America became interested in the Micronesian region for military purposes.  According to Gary Smith author of Micronesia: Decolonization and US Military Interests in the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, “it was only in this last war [World War II] that the Micronesian islands themselves played a significant role and it was this role which embedded Micronesia in the US strategic consciousness.” (7) Ever since then, our islands have been at the mercy of expansive military agendas which were and are essentially non-negotiable. When an area becomes purely strategic, the lives of the people who live within the area are dictated almost solely by these strategic goals, rather than on the goals of the people.  Smith reiterates that “all other objectives contingent on self-determination” for all people within Micronesia, “such as political, economic and social development, were therefore subordinate to the US military interests.” (8) The United States used these islands to proceed with “a series of military and military-related programs for which Micronesia was merely a distant, isolated, convenient piece of real estate under US control.” (9)  In addition, shortly after the War, America became interested in increasing its empire with the expansion of bases throughout the world.  Before the War, the U.S. had only “14 military bases outside its continental border” and only “seven years later, it had 30,000 installations in roughly 100 countries." (10)

Aside from these military related activities, many of the islands in Micronesia including Saipan and possibly Tinian were seen as “fallback contingency options.” (11) This meant that, excluding Guam, the islands were seen as options for the creation of military bases in the event that the bases in Japan and the Philippines were no longer operational. In one sense, our islands were portrayed as somewhat useless to the U.S. military, particularly during the 1940’s, when bases were already set up in other countries.  Former State Department official, Donald McHenry argued that Micronesia was “not needed as a fallback area” at all and that “alliances with Japan and the Philippines, and the base rights there, remain[ed] “reasonably stable.”” (12)  In a doctoral dissertation by Thomas Renahan, he even argued that “talk about Micronesian bases actually worri[ed] Japanese leaders by raising doubts about the American commitment to Japanese defense” and that “military planning based on the loss of present forward bases has an “air of unreality.” (13) Yet, fast forward to 2009, and the importance of the Marianas could not be more important. With Japan paying around $6 billion (14) for the transfer of thousands of Marines from Okinawa to the Marianas, the military seems to be largely depending on these islands in an effort to ensure a strong military presence in the Asia-Pacific realm.  Ironically, Renahan even argued that because “bases are of mutual importance…if a host country no longer wants them” then this “would be in the context wherein the U.S. had no further obligations there either.” (15) This is obviously not the case with Okinawa because it was the citizens of Japan that rallied to get the military off of their land, not the US military. (For further information on Okinawa, click here)

While the strategic location of the Marianas has never been more important, its inhabitants seem to be obstacles getting in the way of the build-up. If ever you doubt the fact that the people in the Marianas are less important than the islands strategic location, it might be helpful to remember “Kissinger’s famous aphorism to journalist Walter HIckel” when speaking of the people in Micronesia: “There are only 90,000 people out there. Who gives a damn?” (16)

The Marianas in the American Psyche

There is something to be said here about the “remoteness” of our islands in comparison to the U.S. mainland. The islands in Micronesia were and still remain so far removed from the American consciousness and experience that it allows military abuses in this region to occur almost without consequence, so long as it is touted as a necessary part of national security. In fact, the United States military once argued that “under the trusteeship it could do anything that it deemed would further international peace and security.” (17) With such a mentality dominating the military sphere in the Micronesian region, almost anything could occur and did occur on our islands. Let us not forget the “66 atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshalls from 1946 to 1958,” (18) the “closure of most of the Northern Marianas from 1952 to 1962, when the islands were used by the US Central Intelligence Agency for training Asian guerrillas and agents”, and the rampant misuse of ordnance and nuclear technology on our islands without sufficient knowledge given to the islands’ peoples. We are so far removed from the everyday American experience that the “great majority of US citizens are unaware of the extent and nature of these bases, and when bases come up for individual mention in the media, they are normalized as forward defense of the US mainland.” (19) In addition, “that defense is achieved, it is widely believed in the United States, through both the alliances the bases are thought to represent and the efficient and rapid delivery of military power they allow for.” (20)  The “US military presence overseas is also seen by the US public as a form of benevolent foreign aid, in which the US “provides free defense” for other countries.” (21) This misrepresentation of our islands is extremely detrimental because it does not put a face to the suffering experienced in this part of the world. It is exactly because we are “out of sight” that we are “out of mind” and often forgotten because we are simply too far away, geographically speaking. Yet to the people of the Marianas, we are anything but remote, and our relatively small islands have the ability to make a big impact on our future, if we so choose. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves about the way the US military has treated us instead of blindly believing that they have our best interests at heart.

Conclusion

To acknowledge this history is not meant to dig up old graves, but rather to understand the current military build-up in light of this militarized past. Again, by re-examining this past, we can be awakened to the reality of the future plans for these islands. Living in such a militarized society has taught us to that we owe the U.S. our lives and our land for providing for us. This reasoning often fails to take into account the sacrifices our people and our lands have made, and how desperately the U.S. has needed us for their military purposes. We cannot let another colonial agenda use us and dispose of us when it is finished.  It is obvious when looking at our  history that the rights and the actual lives of the indigenous peoples are less important than national security.  Opposition to this build-up can be seen as part of a larger resistance against colonialism and abuse, and not something that has just arisen out of nowhere. This build-up is not an isolated event but a very important part of a long and complicated process embedded in a deep history of war and militarization in the Pacific. If enough resistance and opposition to this build-up becomes apparent, we can make positive steps towards self-determination by entering into discussion with the military rather than letting them tell us what to do with our future.

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