Remove ImagesMaui County
The Exchange
January 11, 2007
WHO GAVE: General Dynamics Voluntary Political Contribution Plan
WHO RECEIVED: U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye
DATE: June 8, 2004
AMOUNT: $5,000
The recent court ruling allowing the U.S. Army to resume Stryker
brigade training in Hawai`i undoubtedly pleased our own Senator Dan
Inouye. A longtime booster of the lightly armed and armored Stryker
vehicle, Inouye wasn't shy about saying he wanted training to resume
here. "The nation has made a significant investment to base Strykers in
Hawai`i," he wrote in the Dec. 17, 2006 Honolulu Advertiser.
"Additional delays in relocating the brigade will only increase the
pressure on our overworked military." Fitting words for the ranking
member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, though Inouye
did leave out a couple things. First, and foremost, the Stryker is
hardly the wonder weapon Inouye made it out to be—in fact, its armor
protection is so thin soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have had to
encase the thing in a heavy cage to defend against rocket-propelled
grenades. Inouye also didn't mention how training troops to use
Strykers in Hawaiian hills and jungles will prepare them for the urban
warfare, since that was what manufacturer General Dynamics designed the
vehicle to do. But we're all one big, happy military-industrial
complex, right? Our troops are pretty sharp—I'm sure they'll figure it
all out.