Carol's Op-Ed article on weapons testing in the Wenatchee Daily World

Carol Hiltner carol.hiltner at gmail.com
Wed Mar 4 15:57:01 PST 2009


Hi all!
Major victory! *The Wenatchee World *will publish my Op Ed article about
weapons testing, attached and below.

The *World *was started by my grandfather Rufus Woods back in early 1900s to
provide local and national news to North Central Washington, and is now
published by his namesake, who is my cousin. It is now one of the last
family-owned daily newspapers in America -- one of the last places where
journalism actually serves the community.

In response to my submission and letter, he wrote, "These are indeed
fascinating times - lots of challenges yet amazing opportunities here at the
newspaper. We're in total reinvention mode, getting back to the basics
of *serving
community* and in particularly more completely embracing the notion of
*celebrating
community successes* as a way to lift the conversation out of the morass of
reactivity that is all too often the baseline of discourse."

If you'd like a whiff of nostalgia while supporting a rare and valuable
American treasure, bookmark the link http://wenatcheeworld.com/  I'd like to
see them with a national following.
Best!
Carol

Navy weapons and weather control testing in Washington State

by Carol Hiltner



I received an e-mail last week that caught my attention. It proclaimed that
the U.S. Navy was planning to use the whole northwestern U.S. for military
target practice. *Wait a second,* I thought. *Could this be true? Isn’t the
Navy supposed to be defending us? *

Apparently the Navy has prepared the required environmental impact statement
(EIS) that is subject to public comment until March 11th, and this e-mail
outlined the author’s questions and concerns.

So I read the e-mail. It was long, and contained a lot of technical
information that I couldn’t assess. The author wasn’t so concerned that we
would shot at, as she was about the airborne residues of chemicals the Navy
admits are toxic, such as depleted uranium and white phosphorus, that
American citizens would be breathing, eating, and drinking in perpetuity.

Most of the requested target practice area is just off the Washington coast,
from which prevailing winds would carry persistent toxins progressively
further inland. I wondered about the pollution of the orchards and wheat
fields of eastern Washington, the forests and cities of western Washington,
and the immediate impact on our beleaguered fisheries. Could we indeed be
victims of our own defense efforts?

*Democracy in action,* I thought. I have watched the surge of citizen
activism spawned by our presidential elections with hope and some amazement.
I participated when our President-elect asked Americans to choose the
priorities for his administration by voting on the internet.

I was still caught up with the wave of people’s empowerment when I got this
e-mail, and I was alarmed about the prospect of the Navy turning its weapons
of war on us, even indirectly. So I glanced at the summary of the 1000-page
EIS, commented via the Navy website, sent messages to my Senators and
Congressman asking them to look into this, and forwarded the original e-mail
to my networks requesting their involvement in protecting the western United
States.

Back through my network came news that Senator Conrad of North Dakota had
responded. His staff determined that, based on what they found in the EIS,
the area under discussion was much smaller than stated, but still worth
watching.

Concerned that I might have responded to a false alarm, but also recognizing
that Senator Conrad’s staff might not have found the proverbial needles in
the 1000-page “haystack,” I wrote the author, Rosalind Peterson, asking for
citations to back up her assertions. She responded with a flurry of
forwarded government reports and studies.

What I discovered shocked me. From the mouth of Mrs. Sheila Murray, Navy
Region Northwest Environmental Public Affairs Officer, this EIS addresses
only a minor adjustment to an on-going weapons testing and chemical weather
control program not only on the West Coast, but also in Hawaii, Alaska, and
parts of the East Coast. Weather control?! Who does this serve and what is
the toxic cost? The actual operations areas may be mostly off-shore, but it
is *our* weather that is being experimented with for the purposes of war. It
is our survival that is being tinkered with through persistent toxic
chemical releases.

I personally live by the adage, “We get what we focus on.” So, I focus on a
humanity engaged in the wholeness of life. I see this situation as a wake-up
call for us to individually and collectively participate in decision-making
with a whole-systems, long-term perspective. This official request for
comments on the Navy EIS is an opening for citizens to impact the direction
of the military that we pay for.

The U.S. Navy Environmental Impact Statement is posted at
http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/. The original article that brought my
attention to this is posted at
http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind114.htm.

We can comment on-line until March 11th at
http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/NtrcCommentForm.aspx, as well as contact
our elected representatives.



Guest columnist Carol Hiltner is cousin of *World *publisher Rufus Woods,
who once worked at the *World*. She is an author, artist, and activist who
works collaboratively to access peace through multi-cultural awareness and
friendship. She is currently focused on bringing forth the perspectives of
the ancient indigenous culture of peace found in the Altai Mountains of
Siberia. E-mail: carol.hiltner at gmail.com. Websites:
www.AltaiMir.org<http://www.altaimir.org/>and
www.Altaibooks.com <http://www.altaibooks.com/>.

*
*
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