MENTIONED YESTERDAY ON FREE HAWAI`I TV - WHAT IF THE NAVY GAVE MUCH OF PEARL HARBOR BACK TO HAWAI`I?

 

 

 

 

Honolulu Civil Beat - December 6, 2023 - By Naka Nathaniel

On the eve of the most solemn day at Pearl Harbor, I’d like us to look ahead 18 years from now. 

Last week, I closed my column with a call to change the trajectory of the Navy, and the military at large, in Hawaii after a few years of terrible headlines. Today, I offer not precise solutions but something that will motivate us to act: A deadline. 

We need to make Dec. 7, 2041, the most significant date in Hawaii in the 21st century. 

Why?

The past few years have not been good for the Navy’s reputation in Hawaii. It’s remarkable to see how the botched handling of the Red Hill catastrophe unified so many varied groups in Hawaii against the Navy. 

Those on Oahu who aren’t upset with the Navy yet will be when they see the rate increases in their water bills.

In conversation after conversation I’ve had about the military’s future in Hawaii, the end of the military’s multiple leases were repeatedly called “the elephant in the room.” 

The elephant is also an opportunity that courageous leaders in Hawaii have to shape the future, instead of having it shaped for them. 

For the first time in a long, long time, the people of Hawaii have the opportunity to have a say in what has traditionally been a one-way relationship.

In addition to being better partners and long-term guests and stewards, the military also has an opportunity to modernize its approach to national security here.

Gen. Mark Milley, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned in a report that the military’s current decision-makers are too connected to conventional tank and aircraft carrier warfare. 

Hawaii’s strategic importance as the gas station of the Pacific has waned in the age of digital and drone warfare. It’s hard to conceive what warfare will look like in the age of hypersonic missiles and AI, but it’s possible that Hawaii’s geography can be used in more innovative and inspiring ways.

“The American homeland has almost always been a sanctuary during conflict, but this will not be the case in a future war,” Milley wrote.

Since the nature of national defense is changing, Hawaii needs to take advantage of this sea change. 

Pearl Harbor served its purpose for the Navy and now it’s time for it to follow a proud tradition of hand off. Our memories don’t have to stretch too far back to think about the return of Hong Kong, the return of the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, the bases in the Philippines and the dynamic change brought to many communities in the ‘90s when American military bases were reimagined in the wake of the Cold War.

We need to envision what a Pearl Harbor reintegrated into the fabric of Oahu would be like. For too long, Pearl Harbor has been off-limits for most Hawaiians. 

What if the Navy returned significant parts of Pearl Harbor to Hawaii?

Would it make Hawaii more or less vulnerable? I would argue that it minimizes our exposure. We need to recalibrate what the Navy, and military presence at large, means here in the Pacific.

The people of Hawaii should be the beneficiaries of generously hosting the military for dozens of decades. Sites like Pearl Harbor have the infrastructure to solve myriad problems facing Hawaii. 

It’s not too hard to see how a reimagined Ford Island could become the epitome of sensible 21st century living. 

Or, with the threat of climate change being a menace at least as equal to security threats, some of Pearl Harbor could be converted into a hub for climate mitigation and resiliency efforts.  

In 18 years, instead of only wreath-laying and somber remembrances, let’s envision a day that includes hope for the future. 

Let’s envision a day, Dec. 7, 2041, when a partial handover occurs and a new dawn begins for a better Hawaii and a redeemed and reimagined military.

 

 

 

 AS SEEN ON FREE HAWAI`I TV YESTERDAY - THE ARTICLE EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ

Honolulu Civil Beat - August 16, 2023 - By Naka Nathaniel

Here Are The Deeper Truths About Maui

I’ve covered enough catastrophes, tragedies and disasters to see that we are now at the point in the story when the obvious truths are known.

Now we can start on the deeper truths about this disaster.

First, I want to refute the headline that this was Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster. This wasn’t a natural disaster. This was a human-made disaster generations in the making.

The scores of deaths on Maui were not because of Hurricane Dora.

Our islands have been disrespected for centuries.

Hawaii’s lands and waters have been devastated by extractive agriculture, overdevelopment and militarization.

The consequences of raising non-native crops and livestock in Hawaii have ravaged our lands and made us the planet’s extinction capital.

This is an obvious truth we know: Maui was a tinderbox. The warnings were given but not heeded. The repeating instances of institutional negligence are enervating.

The warnings came not only from academics and nonprofit organizations, but they were also in the mo’olelo (stories) from our kupuna.

After all, Lahaina in Olelo Hawaii means “cruel sun.”

Other mo’olelo speak of how South Maui used to be greener. The forests and vegetation on Kahoolawe would trap moisture and produce rains in the afternoon that kept South Maui from being so susceptible to drought.

Our islands are not “islands.” Our islands are interconnected. Kahoolawe kept Maui green. But Kahoolawe today is a hellscape. The clouds, rain and water table were bombed away.

The kahea to rebuild is strong, but if we don’t also reforest, we are destined to exacerbate and accelerate damage to life and nature as the human-made climate crisis expands. This will not be the last wildfire.

And now, who is making the calls to rebuild, and what are their intentions?

We need to heal our islands or we are doomed to suffer more of these catastrophes. We need to plant, plant, plant before we build, build, build.

The foundation of a future rebuild must include forests and sustainable, healthy approaches to agriculture.

If we don’t care first for the lands we will see more thousand-degree fires that move a mile-a-minute.

We know the truth that the dead and displaced were failed by Hawaii’s physical and human infrastructure. We weren’t ready or resilient.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke told the ugly truth: We were unprepared.

Yes, Maui’s top emergency-response leaders were off-island and our governor was outside of the state, but that shouldn’t have mattered. However, it did. Hawaii simply doesn’t have depth in its leadership ranks.

The deeper truth about leadership here is that too many of the best and brightest have left. Like many of you, I have ohana and friends from here who have gone toe-to-toe in the biggest cities with America’s most ambitious and akamai.

They’ve made the best choice for themselves and their families because our way of life for the past two centuries has forced the ambitious and akamai to leave.

Imported education and religious systems suppressed Hawaii’s language and culture. The deeper truth is this deprived us of the knowledge of how to live here on these islands. 

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how I was worried that our leadership was unprepared for the climate crises that were looming.

Last week, I wrote about the gap in the generational transfer of knowledge and how that break is being repaired. What has happened on Maui is a consequence of that break in generational knowledge.

Here’s a deeper truth: Our friends and neighbors from Silicon Valley and Hollywood have hurt Hawaii. I know this isn’t their intention (we all need help understanding Hawaii) and I know many are donating very generously to the recovery efforts. But, Hawaii is not a paradise away from their paradise. The presence of our wealthy cousins balloons the cost of living here in Hawaii, diminishes opportunity and drives the exodus of Hawaiians from their ancestral homeland.

Hawaii is not a place for a second or third home that sits empty most of the year. Or a place of retreat from the world behind gates, or on hundreds of acres purchased for personal pleasure. Hawaii is the world, under duress from unfolding climate catastrophes and inequality in too many forms.

Here’s a truth Robin Kaye from Lanai said in the third episode of Hawaii Public Radio’s must-listen series, “This Is Our Hawai’i,” about people moving here without understanding Hawaii.

“We have seen too many examples of luxury homeowners and wealthy people coming in here who like the place, but either they want to change it to what they think it should be, even though they came here because they liked the way it was, or they are so dumb about cultural connections that they just don’t get it,” he said. “And if your skin is brown, you exist in a different role to them, and that can be a challenge.”

Plus, the too-big tourism industry that’s created a single-category job market and too often brings people here who further harm instead of help.

The ideal in Hawaii is that the most important five-letter word is ALOHA. However, we know that the most important five-letter word here is MONEY.

Like you, I’ve been asked repeatedly: “How are you doing?”

I’ve said that I’m shocked, saddened and sorrowful.

The deeper truth is that, like many here, I am SEETHING.

The way we’ve disrespected our land and our culture have left at least dozens dead and one of the most beautiful places on the planet devastated.

Human-made climate change, militarization and greed caused these deaths, not a hurricane hundreds of miles away.

More of us are going to die or be displaced if we don’t do what we know we need to do.

That’s the deeper truth.