When you live in a remote place, you are often relieved to learn that you are outside the "circle of death" that marks the outer limits of missile ranges. For example, North Korea has an effective missile range that would allow them to send a warhead to Guam, just 600 miles to our north. However, Chuuk and its lagoon is just beyond range. So, when the heads of North Korea's government threaten the civilized world, we are not concerned. However, when trained Russian operators of a Buk rocket launcher shoot down a commercial airliner over Ukraine, in the name of the Russian separatists there, I get worried. Even if we are somehow out of range for Russian missiles, the concern is not a missile attack; it is that the rest of the world is going to be dragged into a war that involves most nations.
Chuuk experienced WWII when the Japanese fleet established its headquarters here, and the US military bombed the ships in the Lagoon into a watery oblivion. The Japanese suffered a massive loss. The Chuukese suffered massive deaths from the bombs, and their island homes were destroyed. Even seventy years later, the ruins remain unreconstructed. Roads, once plentiful, are reduced to one main road and a few (barely usable) side roads. I am convinced that New Orleans will rebuild before Chuuk.
Why would Vladimir Putin want to create a war - a world war that cannot end well? I assume that he is a very smart fellow, and that he did not intend to shoot down an airliner filled with people from around the world. However, since he could not personally man the weapon, he had to rely on subordinates to do the wet work for him. And they botched the job.
Now, we watch CNN for news of who blames who; who denies any involvement; and if we will ever be able to investigate the crash site and determine who is truly responsible. The war of words will escalate until somebody starts the fight. It is inevitably some subordinate who fails to see the big picture and who reacts with violence, rather than reason. The rest of us are left to deal with violence on a scale that is presently unimaginable. Nobody wins a war - some just suffer less than others.
Putin simply wanted to expand Russian territory into what was once considered part of the USSR. He was effective in stealing Crimea away from the Ukraine, and that emboldened him. The allies of Ukraine gave a weak response to Crimea, so why wouldn't Putin try to get more?
Obama is put into a precarious position; if he continues to give weak responses, the US appears unable to meet our treaty obligations, and Americans will no longer live in a world power. If Obama responds with an attack, he puts the world at war. Americans are tired of fighting in foreign places for causes that are not truly relevant to America's interests. Obama will find little support for a war.
Has Putin made the US a second-rate power? He may discover that he has underestimated his foe; even Americans who oppose a war will nonetheless fight in the military, and there should be no doubt that the US is the most destructive force in mankind's history. Putin may have destroyed the Russian future with his aggressive behavior. Only lawyers are concerned with having the evidence to prove that Russia provided the weapon and trained operators; most people make a judgment and tell it enough times to make their own brains believe it is a fact. Such "facts" have brought on wars before.
In the meantime, the nations who have lost citizens in the shoot-down of MH 17 need to unify and take the separatists who block the crash investigation out into the woods and give them a humane end to their stupid lives. Nobody can justify their behavior. The rest of the world cannot allow thugs to block an investigation of what may be a terrorist act. A combined military push will remove Ukraine's problem, allow the investigation to continue, and it will not serve as an act of aggression against Russia. Russia has already told us that those thugs are not Russian. Now they are committed to preserving that lie.
Just don't nuke them; it would damage the gas pipelines into Europe.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Visiting a small island
Over the past two weeks, I had the opportunity to visit a tiny reef island. My wife and I chartered a boat and took seven of our Chuukese friends on a day trip. It required an hour to steam from the docks at Weno to the barrier reef to the east, and when we arrived we realized that the water depth would not allow the boat to get up to the island. So, we swam about 150 meters from the boat to the shore.
By the time I arrived, I was in doubt as to whether I could make the swim back. Our two dogs swam with me, but they had life jackets - I had only a swimsuit and water shoes, neither of which adds buoyancy. We also had to transport coolers filled with food and drink, so eveybody was worn out after our swim.
The island is magical. The reef causes waves to form and break over the wide reef, causing a continuous roar -- it is a quiet roar, that makes a beautiful background to what is otherwise quiet. Birds provide a melody of calls that punctuate the silence. Coconuts grow abundantly, and there are many fish in the surrounding waters; otherwise the island is devoid of food. A family lives there, taking care of the place for the owner, and they have a stress-free life (except for the occasional typhoon).
The owner once attempted to build a hotel and resort there, but a decade ago a typhoon destroyed the project just before completion. Now, the hotel restaurant building sits atop concrete pillars, with vegetation sprouting out from silt deposits at the junction between floor and wall. The long concrete walkway has been broken by the typhoon storm surge, and one must pick his way amid chunks of concrete to get to the restaurant site.
Sea cucumbers abound. The shallow waters provide a perfect environment for them to feed and grow. Small fish and crabs move about as the incoming tide brings a steady flow of new water, filled with the nutrients offered up by the reef. Chuuk is one of the last places where sea cucumbers enjoy a healthy population. We are debating legislation to conserve what is available, doing that before foreign fishermen deplete the rich resources of the Lagoon.
The reef forms a barrier around the Lagoon, probably the remnants of an ancient volcano. Most of the people in Chuuk live within the Lagoon; those who live in the Mortlocks and in the Northwest, which lie outside the reef, have to travel a long way to get to the commercial center in Weno.
Some of the men went spearfishing, and I followed along, shooting fish with my camera. Although it was difficult to navigate among the coral without making contact, it was a relaxing and enjoyable time. We managed to spear 3 fish, all small, plus a puffer that we released. Later, I realized that my back had become quite sunburned, and that the "relaxing" involved far more exercise than I thought.
If you have the opportunity to visit Chuuk, please don't stop with diving the shipwrecks. Hire a boat to take you around to see the other islands in the Lagoon. Then, you will experience true island life.
By the time I arrived, I was in doubt as to whether I could make the swim back. Our two dogs swam with me, but they had life jackets - I had only a swimsuit and water shoes, neither of which adds buoyancy. We also had to transport coolers filled with food and drink, so eveybody was worn out after our swim.
The island is magical. The reef causes waves to form and break over the wide reef, causing a continuous roar -- it is a quiet roar, that makes a beautiful background to what is otherwise quiet. Birds provide a melody of calls that punctuate the silence. Coconuts grow abundantly, and there are many fish in the surrounding waters; otherwise the island is devoid of food. A family lives there, taking care of the place for the owner, and they have a stress-free life (except for the occasional typhoon).
The owner once attempted to build a hotel and resort there, but a decade ago a typhoon destroyed the project just before completion. Now, the hotel restaurant building sits atop concrete pillars, with vegetation sprouting out from silt deposits at the junction between floor and wall. The long concrete walkway has been broken by the typhoon storm surge, and one must pick his way amid chunks of concrete to get to the restaurant site.
Sea cucumbers abound. The shallow waters provide a perfect environment for them to feed and grow. Small fish and crabs move about as the incoming tide brings a steady flow of new water, filled with the nutrients offered up by the reef. Chuuk is one of the last places where sea cucumbers enjoy a healthy population. We are debating legislation to conserve what is available, doing that before foreign fishermen deplete the rich resources of the Lagoon.
The reef forms a barrier around the Lagoon, probably the remnants of an ancient volcano. Most of the people in Chuuk live within the Lagoon; those who live in the Mortlocks and in the Northwest, which lie outside the reef, have to travel a long way to get to the commercial center in Weno.
Some of the men went spearfishing, and I followed along, shooting fish with my camera. Although it was difficult to navigate among the coral without making contact, it was a relaxing and enjoyable time. We managed to spear 3 fish, all small, plus a puffer that we released. Later, I realized that my back had become quite sunburned, and that the "relaxing" involved far more exercise than I thought.
If you have the opportunity to visit Chuuk, please don't stop with diving the shipwrecks. Hire a boat to take you around to see the other islands in the Lagoon. Then, you will experience true island life.
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