In the News June 22

2022 Rim of the Pacific War Exercises

Petition Call to Cancel RIMPAC and Build a Pacific Zone of Peace

The following is a petition initiated by the Pacific Peace Network which has been taken up by peace activist organizations across the Pacific region.

Petition Text

The Pacific Peace Network and its allied organizations call for the cancellation of the dangerous, provocative and destructive international Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval war practice and for increased citizen pressure for a demilitarized Pan-Pacific Zone of Peace.

RIMPAC naval war practice, the largest naval war maneuvers in the world, will take place off Hawai’i and the West Coast of the U.S. from June 29 to August 4, 2022. At RIMPAC 2022, over 25,000 military personnel, 38 ships, 170 aircraft, four submarines from 26 countries will practice war simulations engaging “enemy forces.”

RIMPAC coupled with expanding U.S. military capability in Hawai’i, Australia, Guahan and other Pacific nations increases the likelihood of armed conflict between the United States and China either by design or accident with unthinkable consequences for the peoples of Asia, the Pacific and the world.

Please endorse this call to action. Pacific Peace Network will share this petition and call on legislators of each participating country to cancel RIMPAC.

Why is This Important?

RIMPAC dramatically contributes to the destruction of the ecology system and aggravation of the climate crisis in the Pacific region. RIMPAC war forces will blow up decommissioned ships with missiles endangering marine mammals such as humpback whales, dolphins and Hawaiian monk seals and polluting the ocean with contaminates from the vessels. Land forces will conduct ground assaults that will tear up beaches where green sea turtles come to breed.

We reject the massive expenditure of funds on war-making when humanity is suffering from lack of food, water and other life-sustaining elements. Human security is not based on military war drills, but on care for the planet and its inhabitants.

2022 RIMPAC includes military forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Six of the 26 RIMPAC participating countries are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States — while four participating countries are Asia-Pacific “partners” of NATO: Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. This means that 40 per cent of RIMPAC participants have NATO ties, demonstrating that NATO is becoming a Pacific military force.

The Pacific Peace Network members currently come from countries/islands across the Pacific including Guåhan, Jeju Island, South Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Philippines, Northern Mariana Islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Hawai’i and the United States.

How the Petition Will Be Delivered

Organizations from each nation represented in RIMPAC will deliver the petitions to national legislators either in person, via a press conference or press release.

For a full list of endorsees and to sign the petition click here.

TML Daily, posted June 22, 2022.