War Is Not A Game

Cancel RIMPAC!

Megan Russell

Next week, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command will launch this year's Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises, the world's largest and most dangerous naval war maneuvers. About 29 countries will meet in Southern California before sailing to Hawaii to conduct acts of aggression and practice engaging with "enemy forces." Since 1971, RIMPAC has continuously polluted the natural environment, led to violence against women, contributed to human rights abuses, perpetuated illegal occupation of land, and enabled defense contractors and fossil fuel corporations to reap hundreds of millions in profit. 

Every year, RIMPAC causes mass damage to the natural environment, affecting local communities and counteracting the fight against climate change. In 2021, massive fuel leaks contaminated Oahu's largest clean water source, leading to 93,000 individuals getting sick. Multiple decommissioned ships are blown up each year with no mandatory clean-up. Instead, leftover parts sink into conservation zones, disturbing the natural environment and local wildlife, including dolphins, humpback whales, monk seals, and sea turtles. Additionally, extreme underwater noise from sonic booms and high-intensity sonar leads to hearing loss and hemorrhaging in dolphins and whales. A whale that cannot hear is a whale that cannot survive. When the COVID-19 pandemic led to a scaling down of the war games, dozens of endangered sea turtles could nest on beaches for the first time. 

Indigenous Hawaiians have suffered over 130 years of illegal occupation by the U.S. military. There are already 142 bases and installations on the islands, occupying 224,897 acres of land. RIMPAC not only harms people and the planet, but it normalizes the illegal occupation and neo-colonial expansion in the name of U.S. global hegemony. Indigenous Hawaiians have repeatedly pronounced their desire to reclaim their land and for U.S. military occupation to end, but they continue to go unanswered. 

Meanwhile, there continues to be extensive reports of military violence against women and growing rates of sex trafficking to meet the demands of the influx of soldiers. Studies have shown that military desecration of land and the ocean is directly linked to violence against the bodies of women and girls. In 2013, Ivy Harris was murdered by a Marine after being trafficked to the island. In 2021, a Hawai'i-based soldier murdered his wife on their anniversary. In 2020, Kayla Holder and her baby were murdered by her boyfriend, an Army reservist. In 2022, Dana Alotaibi was stabbed to death while pregnant by her husband, a Marine in Kāne'ohe. These are a few examples of many. Hawai'i, like these women, continues to be pillaged and desecrated during RIMPAC, which has been described as "the military's Super Bowl." 

The United States justifies RIMPAC by quoting the need to "contain" China, using fear and hateful narratives to attempt to twist public perception in support of war. Nothing can justify the desecration of land and human rights. True security defends human rights, ensures access to clean water, and protects the natural environment. If a conflict in the Pacific were to break out, indigenous Hawaiians would undoubtedly be targeted, as would other US-occupied territories in the region. The U.S. calls China an enemy, but it is the U.S. that surrounds China with bases and torments it with dangerous war maneuvers. It is clear that the only country seeking conflict is the U.S. 

War is not a game and should not be treated as one. The United States needs to put an end to RIMPAC once and for all and stop fueling war! Instead, we must help rebuild and protect the natural ecosystems that the U.S. military has destroyed. 

👉 TELL AUSTIN AND PAPARO TO CANCEL RIMPAC AND STOP FUELING WAR!

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Megan Russell is CODEPINK's China is Not Our Enemy Campaign Coordinator.

She graduated from the London School of Economics with a Master’s Degree in Conflict Studies. Prior to that, she attended NYU where she studied Conflict, Culture, and International Law. Megan spent one year studying in Shanghai, and over eight years studying Chinese Mandarin. Her research focuses on the intersection between US-China affairs, peace-building, and international development.