Others Must Sacrifice
There is constant tension in the West about Federal land and how that land is used, which always seems to end up helping corporations. With all that land some might question why the government needs to buy up private land whenever the government needs to do something.
For example, Peter Slevin writes in The Washington Post that Ranchers angry over army site expansion
The U.S. Army wants 418,000 acres of private ranch land to triple the size of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, a training area considered suitable — some would say essential — for preparing American warriors to do battle in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The 1,000-square-mile facility would be 15 times the size of the District.
…
Brian A. Binn, president of the military affairs committee of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, said the benefits to the state economy and national defense are clear. If the ranchers triumph and the training site is not created, he added, other states would be all too willing to accept the troops and the business.
…Bob Hill, a rancher forced to sell his land to the Army 25 years ago, said caustically, “I find the city people are really patriotic with our property.”
If Mr. Binn thinks that other people want this facility, why not let them have it, because the people who would be impacted directly, the ranchers, obviously don’t want it.
Since Iraq is all about urban warfare, maybe the Army should buy up Colorado Springs and use it, I’m sure the patriotic Mr. Binn wouldn’t mind.
2 comments
Maybe instead of preparing to do battle in foreign countries, our military ought to be prepared to defend this one.
Training facilities that haven’t been built should be designed for the next war, not the one we are currently fighting and should be getting away from.