I am pleased that people are expressing themselves about the Navy's plans for training on the Olympic Peninsula.  

Fortunately for the Navy, the issues being discussed are peripheral ones. It's not really about the shockingly loud Growlers, or the cost or savings for taxpayers, or the health danger from electromagnetic waves, or the loss of purpose for both the Olympic National Forest and Park.  

Those items the Navy can minimize pretty easily while keeping clear of the main issue.  

The NAS commander stated the trainings are necessary to prepare for the enemy. In this case, who is the enemy and what is the objective?  

Since 9/11, the government of the U.S. has been engaged in ever increasing warfare with one enemy or another that just happens to live on top of oil and gas fields or along pipeline routes.  

So, we get taxed for military operations abroad and a militarizing police presence at home even as we ignore the gluttonous oil consumption at the root of the wars.

The real enemy is the militarism of this empire and those who turn everything, life included, into commodities for profit.

How can militarism be addressed since we enjoy the perks of the empire's resources?  

We must commit to create a community as oil-independent as possible.

The most significant step towards this goal must be an increase in our investment in walking, biking and especially transit, thus making these options our first choice for travel.  

We can then assert our personal and community independence from oil which is taken by war from under someone else’s desert.   

The comprehensive plan process is our best tool for this, and our Local 20/20 organization has an excellent blueprint.  Let’s have an open and engaging process and begin creating the future we want.

Make community, not war.

SCOTT G. WALKER

Port Townsend