Pacific

June 24 – July 1 Actions To Cancel RIMPAC Military Exercises

June 16, 2024 Resist US-Led War Movement, Popular Resistance. Resist! Military Exercises, New Cold War, Pacific, RIMPAC, Wars and Militarism

On April 10th the Resist US-Led War Movement joined the International Women’s Alliance and BAYAN USA in launching the international campaign to Cancel the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises. RIMPAC is the world’s largest US-led joint war exercises, held biannually in occupied Hawai’i and involving the militaries of more than 20 US allies. In support of the people of Hawai’i who have been organizing against RIMPAC since it began in 1971, the international campaign aims to galvanize people throughout the continental US and around the world to expose and oppose the destructive and lethal war games.

Is NATO Taking Over The Pacific?

June 4, 2024 Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright, Popular Resistance. Educate! Militarization, Military Exercises, NATO, Pacific, RIMPAC

As the United States increases its military confrontation with China through new military bases on Guam and the Philippines and more land, sea and air exercises with countries in the Asia-Pacific, the world’s largest naval war exercises are going to be held in the mid-Pacific from June 26 to August 2, 2024-and NATO is in the middle of it. 29 countries are participating in the 2024 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval war practice that will bring 40 ships, 3 submarines, over 150 aircraft, 14 national land forces and 25,000 personnel to the island of Oahu and the waters off Hawaii. Incredibly, one-third of the countries bringing ships, submarines and aircraft to the middle of the Pacific are not from Asia and the Pacific, but are from Europe--all members of the North ATLANTIC Treaty Organization (NATO).

Pacific Peace Network Challenges RIMPAC

July 28, 2022 John Price and Satoko Oka Norimatsu , Canadian Dimension. Resist! Indigenous Rights, Pacific, RIMPAC, US Imperialism

Last month, two Canadian warships, HMCS Vancouver and Winnipeg departed Esquimalt naval base heading for San Diego and then Hawai’i to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war maneuvers scheduled from June 29 to August 4. Just as the Canadian warships were departing Esquimalt, activists in Hawai’i gathered at Kailua near the Marine Corps Air Station on Kaneohe Bay to protest the impending visit of the RIMPAC warships, including Canada’s. According to the US Pacific Fleet, this year’s RIMPAC war rehearsals began on June 30 and will continue until August 4. It will be the largest maritime war exercise in the world with “26 nations, 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national land forces, more than 30 unmanned systems, approximately 170 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel participating.”

Guantanamo, Cuba: VII Symposium On The Abolition Of Foreign Military Bases

May 23, 2022 Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright, Popular Resistance. Resist! Cuba, Pacific, US Foreign Bases, US military

The seventh iteration of the Symposium on the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases was held May 4-6, 2022 in Guantanamo, Cuba, near the 125 year old US Naval Base located a few miles from the city of Guantanamo. The Naval Base is the site of the infamous US military prison that, as of April 2022, still holds 37 men, most of whom have never been tried as their trial would reveal the torture to which the US has subjected them. 18 of the 37 are approved for release if U.S. diplomats can arrange for countries to accept them. The Biden administration has released 3 prisoners so far including one who had been cleared for release in the final days of the Obama Administration but was kept imprisoned for 4 more years by the Trump administration. The prison was opened twenty years ago on January 11, 2002.

‘Anti-China’ Military Pact ‘Threatens Peace And Stability’ In Pacific

September 18, 2021 Kenny Stancil, Commondreams. Educate! AUKUS, New Cold War, Pacific, Wars and Militarism

Anti-war advocates are denouncing Wednesday's formation of a trilateral military partnership through which the United States and the United Kingdom plan to help Australia build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines—a long-term initiative broadly viewed as a challenge to China by Western powers determined to exert control over the Pacific region. Although Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and U.S. President Joe Biden did not mention Beijing during their joint video announcement of the so-called AUKUS alliance, "the move is widely seen as a response to China's expanding economic power, military reach, and diplomatic influence," the Washington Post reported. "China is believed to have six nuclear attack submarines, with plans to increase the fleet in the next decade."

Minuteman III Missile Test Launch From Vandenberg AFB Ends In Failure

August 2, 2018 By Janene Scully, Noozhawk.com Educate! Pacific, weapons

Range control officers at Vandenberg Air Force Base terminated the flight of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile after it launched early Tuesday morning. Air Force Global Strike Command representatives said crews sent the self-destruct command at 4:42 a.m. while the missile flew over the Pacific Ocean. The three-stage weapon earlier had blasted out of an underground silo on North Base en route to a predetermined target in the central Pacific Ocean near the Kwajalein Atoll. The launch occurred at 4:38 a.m. and the destruct command was sent approximately four minutes later, Global Strike Command officials confirmed Wednesday. For test launches from Vandenberg, the Minuteman III missiles are equipped with ordnance that allows range safety crew members to send commands to destroy the weapon if it begins to veer off course or otherwise behave oddly. “An anomaly is any unexpected event during the test,” Global Strike Command representatives said.

Military’s Live-Fire Training Ignites Resistance From Some Big Island Neighbors

July 14, 2018 By Jon Letman, Civilbeat.org Resist! Hawaii, Pacific, US Imperialism, US military

POHAKULOA, Hawaii Island — It’s cold, it’s windy and at 6,300 feet above sea level, the air is thin. For more than 70 years, this stark landscape of folded black lava and bulging cinder cones has been where the U.S. military prepares for war on Hawaii Island. This is Pohakuloa Training Area, the U.S. military’s largest training grounds in the Pacific. Established as a live-fire range for U.S. Marines during World War II, PTA has fallen under the domain of the Army since the mid-1950s. The area is used to practice unloading troops, firing weapons and other battle maneuvers — and also serves as a training ground for other militaries around the globe. “Sweat in training is far more preferable to blood lost in fighting,” said Army public affairs officer Eric Hamilton, adding that the training is central to PTA’s core mission.

These Pacific Islanders Still Live At The Mercy Of The US Military

June 24, 2015 Roy Smith, www.theconversation.com Educate! Asia, Imperialism, Pacific, Wars and Militarism

By Roy Smith in The Conversation - In the latest development of the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia, a strategy of reorganising and strengthening US military capabilities in the Pacific, the islanders of Pagan and Tinian are being told to make way for a “simulated war zone”. After decades of living at the behest of American military priorities, they are still resisting moves to encroach on their homelands – and their chances of success are as slim as ever. Both islands are part of the US associated Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. Their strategic location, midway between the US Pacific Fleet headquarters in Hawaii and the Asian mainland, with further logistical support available at the naval facilities in nearby Guam, make them attractive locations for the US military’s purposes.

Daily movement news and resources