RIMPAC perpetuates cycle of violence
By Paige Villaruz, Zac Fraser and Clarissa Rago
From June 24 to July 31, Hawaii will host the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise — scheduled to take place in the ocean, on land and in the air of Ko Hawai‘i Pae‘aina. The U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that “a multinational force of approximately 40 surface ships, five submarines, 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel” will descend upon our shores. RIMPAC and the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) in Honolulu serve to maintain U.S. military dominance across the expanse of seas stretching from the west coast of the Americas to Diego Garcia.
The U.S. spends billions to deploy, arm, and/or maintain military bases in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia, encircling China to provoke an unnecessary and calamitous war; in much the same way, they encircled Iran with bases and personnel throughout West Asia. The U.S. Fifth Fleet was based in Bahrain, and Al-Udeid, a major U.S. Air Force base, in Qatar. In the Persian Gulf, these Arab monarchies purchased U.S. weapons, assuming that they were also buying protection against Iran with an American military presence. Should America provoke war with China, we can assume similar targeting of U.S. military personnel on domestic and overseas bases, especially here in Hawaii.
Preparation for war has long been underway. On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched an incendiary missile strike in Iran, killing 168 school girls in Minab. Iran retaliated against the U.S. bases, leaving them inoperable. Furthermore, the assumed protection against Iran did not prevail, as the Persian Gulf monarchies ran out of interceptor missiles (with none available for resupply), and U.S. carrier battle groups remained hundreds of miles away, reflecting their diminished significance in the age of missile warfare. War tensions rose even further from April 20 to May 8 during the largest-ever Balikatan exercises in the Philippines, primarily conducted between the U.S. military and the U.S.-trained Armed Forces of the Philippines. Japan, Canada, France and New Zealand also participate in this year’s rehearsals, simulating combat operations (e.g., missile strikes, open-fire practice) for war against China.
As the United States furthers its military preparation, we may expect to see more civilian deaths, land exploitation/desecration, and economic struggle. Adding to the civilian death count in Iran, on April 19 (the day before the Balikatan exercises began), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) massacred 19 activists — two U.S. civilians and 17 Philippine citizens — in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Although the AFP claims these 19 civilians died in a firefight, a forensic pathologist, Dr. Raquel Fortun, performed autopsies that found high- velocity rifle bullet entries from the backs of the civilians (www.bayanusa.org/blog/press-release- autopsy-of-negros- 19).
The trickling effects of war are felt worldwide, and we, the people, are forced to endure it all. Previous RIMPAC activities have already desecrated the aina with its pollution, as evidenced by the military’s toxic sites: Kahoolawe, Puuloa (Pearl Harbor), Makua, Pohakuloa, Kapukaki (Red Hill), and a jet fuel spill in November 2021 at Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility that polluted the drinking water, sickening many. Oil prices have risen; synthetic fertilizer has become scarce; gas and food prices are up, but people’s wages are not. A global depression comes closer every day.
How much longer must we be targets of war, living through such conditions, worrying about our resources, lands, and lives being wasted away for the sake of political violence? We must all come together, cancel RIMPAC, and fight to regain the peace being stolen from us.
Paige Villaruz, from left, Zac Fraser and Clarissa Rago are social justice and anti-war activists.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/06/23/editorial/island-voices/column-rimpac-perpetuates-cycle-of-violence/
By Paige Villaruz, Zac Fraser and Clarissa Rago
From June 24 to July 31, Hawaii will host the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise — scheduled to take place in the ocean, on land and in the air of Ko Hawai‘i Pae‘aina. The U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that “a multinational force of approximately 40 surface ships, five submarines, 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel” will descend upon our shores. RIMPAC and the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) in Honolulu serve to maintain U.S. military dominance across the expanse of seas stretching from the west coast of the Americas to Diego Garcia.
The U.S. spends billions to deploy, arm, and/or maintain military bases in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia, encircling China to provoke an unnecessary and calamitous war; in much the same way, they encircled Iran with bases and personnel throughout West Asia. The U.S. Fifth Fleet was based in Bahrain, and Al-Udeid, a major U.S. Air Force base, in Qatar. In the Persian Gulf, these Arab monarchies purchased U.S. weapons, assuming that they were also buying protection against Iran with an American military presence. Should America provoke war with China, we can assume similar targeting of U.S. military personnel on domestic and overseas bases, especially here in Hawaii.
Preparation for war has long been underway. On Feb. 28, the United States and Israel launched an incendiary missile strike in Iran, killing 168 school girls in Minab. Iran retaliated against the U.S. bases, leaving them inoperable. Furthermore, the assumed protection against Iran did not prevail, as the Persian Gulf monarchies ran out of interceptor missiles (with none available for resupply), and U.S. carrier battle groups remained hundreds of miles away, reflecting their diminished significance in the age of missile warfare. War tensions rose even further from April 20 to May 8 during the largest-ever Balikatan exercises in the Philippines, primarily conducted between the U.S. military and the U.S.-trained Armed Forces of the Philippines. Japan, Canada, France and New Zealand also participate in this year’s rehearsals, simulating combat operations (e.g., missile strikes, open-fire practice) for war against China.
As the United States furthers its military preparation, we may expect to see more civilian deaths, land exploitation/desecration, and economic struggle. Adding to the civilian death count in Iran, on April 19 (the day before the Balikatan exercises began), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) massacred 19 activists — two U.S. civilians and 17 Philippine citizens — in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Although the AFP claims these 19 civilians died in a firefight, a forensic pathologist, Dr. Raquel Fortun, performed autopsies that found high- velocity rifle bullet entries from the backs of the civilians (www.bayanusa.org/blog/press-release- autopsy-of-negros- 19).
The trickling effects of war are felt worldwide, and we, the people, are forced to endure it all. Previous RIMPAC activities have already desecrated the aina with its pollution, as evidenced by the military’s toxic sites: Kahoolawe, Puuloa (Pearl Harbor), Makua, Pohakuloa, Kapukaki (Red Hill), and a jet fuel spill in November 2021 at Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility that polluted the drinking water, sickening many. Oil prices have risen; synthetic fertilizer has become scarce; gas and food prices are up, but people’s wages are not. A global depression comes closer every day.
How much longer must we be targets of war, living through such conditions, worrying about our resources, lands, and lives being wasted away for the sake of political violence? We must all come together, cancel RIMPAC, and fight to regain the peace being stolen from us.
Paige Villaruz, from left, Zac Fraser and Clarissa Rago are social justice and anti-war activists.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/06/23/editorial/island-voices/column-rimpac-perpetuates-cycle-of-violence/