Subject: [OMJP] Fwd: [opme] Militarization of our port: The saga continues! Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 09:26:02 -0700 From: Larry Mosqueda Begin forwarded message: From: Date: June 8, 2004 7:30:55 AM PDT Subject: [opme] Militarization of our port: The saga continues! PLEASE CIRCULATE. APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friends, If you haven't heard already, there is a huge military transport ship in our port -- I attach the Olympian article below. About a dozen of us gathered there yesterday evening in response to a call from Drew Hendrix who kept watch of the ship but was being threatened by a county officer. Although our action was not coordinated, we felt that our mere presence there was important. At one point, just before 10pm, we were told that the area was a city park and that we had to leave unless we want to risk being charged with trasspessing! We argued that it is the military, which WE charge with trasspessing. Turns out, we were standing on port territory and the Olympia police that got there simply kept watch but didn't have a problem with us standing there. We didn't make a decision about how to procede, so here are several options: 1. Someone should check on what it would take to establish a semi-permanent peace encampment in front of the ship, to educate the public about the war. We can still do this without a permit by just having individuals stand there with literature and talk to the public. 2. We need a good flyer that in my view should have basic facts about the toll of the war, with a particular emphasis on the COST OF WAR, especially to us as a state. There are excellent facts on the webpage of www.nationalpriorities.org 3. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the USS Olympia today. There is NO room for a public discussion on that topic but there is a regular public comment time at 7pm. Some of us should be there to register our discontent! 4. Continue to write letters to the editor in the Olympian both of the USS Olympia and on the recent deployment 5. We spoke to the Olympian last night but they failed to include our comments. They will probably cover something if there is a group that gathers there. Morning is better. HOW ABOUT A PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY AT 9:00AM ON THURSDAY?! THIS WILL GIVE US TIME TO MOBILIZE AND GENERATE MEDIA (INCLUDING TV). 6. Perhaps some people could stop by at the end of the workday around 5:30pm TODAY. We could bring some music (PEACE SONGS). It would be good to stress that we are NOT against the soldiers. We had a great conversation with one last night. Larry M. handed them an article he wrote about the duty to disobey unlawfall orders and we promised that Olympia would welcome the military if it begins a permanet re-deployment from Iraq and that we would host a welcome home party for them when the war finally ends. We should protest the ship's presence but also use it to affirm the kind of community we live in. Perhaps we could hold a teach-in there later in the week? fly peace kites? bake cookies for the soldiers? display children's art work about peace on a board and/or have them give some of these drawing to the soldiers working on and guarding the ship. DOES ANYONE HAVE THE ENERGY AND TIME TO STEP-UP AND COORDINATE THIS PROJECT?! yours, Simona __________________________________ [published June 08, 2004] JIM SZYMANSKI THE OLYMPIAN About the MV Cape Kennedy -Length: 695 feet -Beam: 105 feet -Draft: 35 feet -Displacement: 29,219 long tons -Speed: 16.6 knots -Time to activate: Five days Port of Olympia: www.portolympia.com The Army is using the Port of Olympia for the second time in two weeks to move military equipment. This week's unloading of 501 pieces from southwest Asia will feature 21 helicopters that will be re-assembled and lift off from the port bound for various Army posts. The unloading began on Monday night after the MV Cape Kennedy, a military transport ship, arrived in port at 1 a.m. Two weeks ago, a similar transport, the SS Cape Island, left Olympia with 400 trucks, tracked vehicles and containers for southwest Asia to support the war in Iraq. Judi Warren, a spokeswoman for the 833rd U.S. Army transportation battalion in Seattle, estimated the current Army port call could continue for up to two weeks. It will require a military convoy of trucks and about 80 rail cars, she said. Warren said federal customs inspectors and other inspectors from the Department of Agriculture would be examining the equipment before it moves on to Army posts and other destinations. "It's just to make sure things haven't become contaminated in some way," Warren said. The Military Sealift Command will be unloading 77 containers, 403 "wheeled vehicles" and 21 Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters, Warren said. She said the helicopters are stored below the ship's main deck without rotor blades. Personnel will re-assemble the rotor blades in preparation for the copters' lifting off from the port by Thursday of this week, Warren said. Some of the cargo will go to Fort Lewis. The rest will go to several Army installations, including Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Irwin in California, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Drum in New York, Warren said. In Puget Sound, such deployments and arrivals typically happen through the Port of Tacoma. Prior to the SS Cape Island's arrival, the Port of Olympia had not seen a military deployment since 1987. The recent regional military port calls have come into conflict with other shipments at the Port of Tacoma's increasingly busy docks, said Mike Wasem, a spokesman for the Port of Tacoma. "The military is doing a lot more shipping than they have in the past," Wasem said. "There have been some conflicts in Tacoma but fortunately, Olympia has been able to accommodate the needs of the military. That's fantastic." Military spokesmen noted that the Olympia port is about the same distance from Fort Lewis as the Port of Tacoma. Though the Port of Tacoma values its military business, Wasem said he was pleased Olympia can handle the Army's needs. The unscheduled military calls mean more Port of Olympia revenue. The port expects to handle 40 ships this year, up from 28 last year. The estimate of 40 ships does not include the two military transports, said John Wolfe, the Olympia port's executive director. Wolfe said Monday that he still was awaiting a final revenue report from last month's SS Cape Island call. Neither Warren nor Wolfe said they could predict when another military ship might call on Olympia's port. "I don't see any other missions on the horizon," said Warren. "But that could change in 10 minutes." The Army secured the port's marine terminal area with armed guards while the Coast Guard stationed armed boats that sailed around the Cape Kennedy as it prepared to unload Monday. As with the earlier Army call, the Cape Kennedy's looming presence -- it's nearly 700 feet long -- drew a handful of curiosity seekers to Port Plaza to watch it. "This is kind of good for the area's economy," said Chris Snyder, an Intercity Transit van driver, who came to watch the ship on his lunch hour. "I've always been interested in looking at big ships. They're kind of interesting." Snyder supports the port accommodating military ships. "It piques the public's interest in what's going on in the war," he said. World War II veteran Tom Hopkins said he was frustrated by some in Olympia who have spoken out against the Army calls, and that plans have fallen through for a visit this year by the nuclear-powered sub, the USS Olympia. "I think it's a shame that everybody's condemning this," said Hopkins, who served in the Navy in the South Atlantic. "This is part of the United States."