DA: Guam Pivot

Hansen
Fall 2015

Synopsis: Troop withdrawal just causes the troops to be deployed to Guam. Troop deployment
to Guam destroys cultural sovereignty and the environment.

Uniqueness
1 Troop deployments are stable now
-The Pentagon has determined to have around 156,000 troops deployed overseas. These
troops are placed to counterbalance would-be threats to the United States.

-Deployments are determined by Congressional action as is determined in Article II of the

Constitutions. War Powers acts have altered the Presidents ability to use force in war, but
Congress still works with the Pentagon to balance troop levels.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/report/2014/09/24/97748/understanding-
authorizations-for-the-use-of-military-force/

2 Current Guam troop levels are low

-The US currently has around 5,000 troops deployed in Guam. This is drastically less than
current commander want. Previous plans called for 8,000 more Marines to be relocated to
Guam as well as more Naval and Air Force troops to support Okinawa.

-This is just because of limited resources. Cut defense spending for FY13,14 meant programs

Links
1 Withdrawal of troops puts them in Guam
-The undersecretary of the Navy said, “We didn't call it that at the time, but Guam has always
been a central part of our plans. Certainly a central part of the Navy's plans but now a central
part of the entire Department of Defense's plans.”

-Rebalance like the Asian Pivot, TPP, are meaning that military commanders want to move into
there because it’s seen as a growing market. They want to be in an expanding force so they
have easier access to promotions
http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/603091

Impacts
1 Turns case

2 Increased Guam deployment collapses indigenous rights and sovereignty

- people in Guam have expressed strong opposition to the proposed enormous increase in the
US military presence on economic, environmental, and cultural grounds. Due to Guam’s status
as an unincorporated U.S. territory, however, local communities are highly constrained in their
ability to influence the political process. Indeed, they were not even consulted when the
expansion plans were developed.

-Opponents of the build-up have emphasized the negative impact of the U.S. military on Guam,
manifested in poor health, radiation exposure, contaminated and toxic sites, curbing of
traditional practices such as fishing, and major land takings, which started in the early 20th
century. The incidence of cancer in Guam is high and Chamorros have significantly higher rates
than other ethnic groups.23 Cancer mortality rates for 2003-2007 showed that Chamorro
incidence rates from cancer of the mouth and pharynx, nasopharynx, lung and bronchus, cervix,
uterus, and liver were all higher than U.S. rates.24 Chamorros living on Guam also have the
highest incidence of diabetes compared to other ethnic groups, and this is about five times the
overall U.S. rate.
The entire island was affected by toxic contamination following the “Bravo” hydrogen bomb test
in the Marshall Islands in 1954.25 Up to twenty years later, from 1968 to 1974, Guam had
higher yearly rainfall measures of strontium 90 compared to Majuro (Marshall Islands).
http://www.japanfocus.org/-gwyn-kirk/3356/article.html

3 Spills, biohazards and biodiversity collapse cause extinction

-The Environmental Protection Agency says military’s failure to plan for infrastructure upgrades
would lead to raw sewage spills and a shortage of drinking water.

-The EPA predicts moving more aircraft carriers into the region could destroy unique coral reefs
in the area because of waste dumping and the size of the aircraft carriers would just wreck the
currents in relatively shallow waters that house the coral reefs just off the shore of Guam.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/epa-opposes-us-military-s-plan-move-marines-guam

-”Waste treatment is another significant, non-extractive ecosystem function that intact coral reef
ecosystems provide. More generally, " ocean ecosystems play a major role in the global
geochemical cycling of all the elements that represent the basic building blocks of living
organisms , carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, as well as other less abundant
but necessary elements." In a very real and direct sense, therefore, human degradation of
marine ecosystems impairs the planet's ability to support life.” -Craig in the 2003 McGeorge Law
Review