Why U.S. Military Considers Puerto Rican Island Indispensable
MICHAEL HOLMES, WORLD NEWS: Protesters occupying a small island off Puerto Rico say the United States military must find another site for what they call its war games. But the U.S. military insists it needs part of Vieques islands to remain - to maintain its combat readiness. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports on why the U.S. top brass consider Vieques indispensable.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Navy has used Vieques for target practice for more than 50 years. Between 1941 and 1950, it bought up two-thirds of the 52-square-mile Puerto Rican island for what it says was fair market value - roughly $1.5 million. Now the Pentagon claims it can't be replaced at any price.</s>ADM. CRAIG QUIGLEY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: It is a question of money to a certain extent, Jamie. But money aside, we've simply not found a location that offers the combination of attributes that Vieques offers today.</s>MCINTYRE: About 9,300 U.S. citizens live in the center of the tiny island, mostly in two coastal cities in the north and south. Protesters shut down the bombing range in April of last year after a Marine Corp F- 18 mistakenly dropped two bombs on an observation post, killing a civilian security guard.</s>JUAN FIGUEROA, PUERTO RICAN LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND: Can you imagine if this was happening in the Florida Keys? Can you imagine if the Navy decided to use one of the keys to do target practice 60 years ago? You probably can't imagine it because it would never happen.</s>MCINTYRE: The Navy insists there is nowhere else on America's East Coast where Marines can practice an amphibious assault, while jet fighter planes drop live bombs from overhead - the kind of realistic training the military says is essential to producing battle-ready troops.</s>JAMES INHOFE, U.S. SENATE MEMBER: This is a life and death issue for young American troops, and I might add some of those troops are Puerto Rican troops. Now, we own that island. That's owned by the Navy, and all we're asking is the same things I do in my state of Oklahoma when we have a live firing range at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.</s>MCINTYRE: Last year, the Navy studied 18 possible alternatives to Vieques, including nearby uninhabited islands and existing bombing ranges in the United States. None were deemed suitable, either because their beaches were too small for an amphibious landing or the sites were too close to busy commercial air corridors, or they were home to endangered plants and animals. (on camera): There is an inherent contradiction in the Navy's position. On the one hand, officials insist there is no alternative to Vieques. But on the other hand, they've agreed to leave if the island's residents vote them out in a referendum. In that case, they concede, they'll simply have to find an alternative. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.