Did you know that Hawaiʻi is not part of the United States?  That's right -- according to International Law and the United Nations, the United States's presence is actually an illegal occupation of a neutral country.  Hawaiʻi was one of the first neutral countries in the world, dedicated to peace and diplomacy.  The US Military backed a rogue invasion in 1893, described as an "Act of War" by then-President Cleveland, and has held Hawaiʻi literally at gunpoint since then.   

 

How Does RIMPAC Harm Hawaiʻi?   

Following are just a few examples: 

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•  Retired military ships are towed out to sea and then targeted with missiles and torpedoes until they sink to a watery graveyard on the ocean floor.   There they leach toxic chemicals, including PCBs, which accumulate in the bodies of fish, dolphins and whales – and ultimately into our food.

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• Amphibious landing exercises, which include heavy tracked vehicles, damage reefs, erode shoreline, and endanger wildlife.

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• Military sonar and underwater bomb detonations have been proven to wreak havoc on whales and dolphins by driving them from feeding areas, causing them to beach in panic, interfering with communication and mating, causing hemorrhages and embolisms in their bodies.

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• An increase in toxic waste, noise pollution, harmful air emissions, and fuel spillage diminishes the quality of life throughout the State of Hawai`i.

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• The Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area on the island of Hawai`i hosts live-fire training for ground troops from other countries who leave their ships to “practice with the entire gamut of weapons systems, everything from the pistol all the way up to 84mm rockets and missiles.”  Pohakuloa is almost 5 times the size of the island of Kaho`oloawe, the 5th largest island in Hawai`i that was completely destroyed by U.S. bombing practice, and is the U.S. military’s largest live-fire training range in the U.S.  It is located on the slopes of MaunaKea, a mountain held sacred by many.   RIMPAC exercises further destroy the environment and cultural sites and subject surrounding communities to aerosolized Depleted Uranium and other toxins.

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• The influx of more than 25,000 military personnel to Hawai`i increases the sex industry, supported by sex trafficking.

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The enormous military presence in Hawai`i has done, and continues to do, irreparable damage to Hawai`i’s people, land, air and sea.  Areas that have been used for live fire training and bombing practice are uninhabitable; bombing and live fire practice is not only continuing but escalating in the age of the “Pacific Pivot”.  Indigenous Hawaiian cultural sites have been destroyed.  U.S. Military fuel storage tanks are leaking poisons into the drinking water in Hawai`i's most populous city. Vast areas of land and water are so toxic as to be unusable.  In a state where land is extremely limited the U.S. military occupies a larger percentage of land than in any other state, paying only $1/year for each base or tract.  This has contributed to making Hawai`i #1 in cost of living, as well as in homelessness.    RIMPAC exercises further contribute to this destruction.