Guam leaders balk at U.S. military buildup

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Guam leaders balk at U.S. military buildup
By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, February 19, 2010

TOKYO — Guam’s leaders in recent days have ratcheted up criticism of a proposed massive military buildup, with the island’s sole delegate to Congress vowing to withdraw support unless the Pentagon slows its plans.

In her biennial speech Tuesday night to the Guam Legislature, Madeleine Bordallo asked the Navy to stretch the construction phase to eight to 10 years as the military moves 8,600 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

Currently, the plan calls for reaching the construction peak in four years, a move that could temporarily add nearly 80,000 people to the island by 2014.

“We will do everything that we can, federally and locally, to stop that from happening,” Bordallo said during her address. “We have our foot on the brakes.”

On Monday, Gov. Felix Camacho had a similar tone in his State of the Island speech, calling on the military to rethink plans to dredge acres of coral out of Apra Harbor to make way for an aircraft carrier berth.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68110