Native Americans Want 'Bunker Buster' Test Stopped

[cynatnite]

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 10 (OneWorld) - Native Americans want U.S. authorities to cancel plans to detonate 700 tons of explosives on what they say is tribal land in Nevada.

The planned explosion, scheduled for June 2 some 90 miles from Las Vegas, is aimed at aiding U.S. efforts to develop ''bunker buster'' weapons capable of penetrating solid rock. Officials have suggested the test would constitute the largest non-nuclear, open-air blast in the test site's history.

Federal officials have described such efforts as essential to the administration of President George W. Bush's self-styled ''war on terror'' but to leaders of the Shoshone, also known as the Newe people, the planned detonation is just the latest in a decades-long history of experiments at the Nevada Test Site to shake the earth and raise a dust cloud.

snip:
The site of the latest proposed test sits on the land recognized under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley as part of the tribe's national territory, Shoshone leaders said, and the U.S. military therefore has no right to use it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/45361306871144719531

[bbinacan]

1. A little confused and

and more buzzed. Is the test on a Reservation or on federal land?

[cynatnite]

4. Well, the Shoshone were paid...

that makes the owners the US Govt.

It doesn't matter that the tribe never accepted the money. :sarcasm:

Also, the govt. doesn't care about this:

Scientists have said that exposure to radiation from nuclear testing caused an increased incidence of leukemia and cancer in areas adjacent to the Nevada Test Site.

All necessary permits to conduct the test have been obtained from Nevada state agencies, test authorities have said, but there has been no indication that they sought Shoshone approval.

The test has been named ''Divine Strake,'' adding to the outrage felt by many Native Americans, who say the test site sits on sacred land.

''It's a mystery why they call it 'divine','' said Carrie Dann, a grandmother and executive director of the Western Shoshone Defense Project. ''Isn't 'divine' used for your deity, God, your sacredness? Why don't they call it 'Hell Strake?'''

[bbinacan]

7. They didn't accept the money?

[cynatnite]

8. If you click on the link in the post, it'll bring up the article...

The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in 1985 that the Shoshone had been paid in full for the land under the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946 ''and thus the land is property of the United States Government,'' Rohrer said in an email.

''My understanding is that funding has been set aside in a trust account for compensation but there is disagreement among Western Shoshone on whether they should accept the funding,'' he added.

[bbinacan]

10. Thanks for the info. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

2. Treaties? These guys don't even recognize the Constitution

Good luck with that. Look how long it took the natives of Vieques to get their land back.

[northamericancitizen]

3. Recommend this story.

[alittlelark]

5. I read a story on DU a week or so ago ... Govt officials said

the mushroom cloud would be visible from Las Vegas... there were quotes from NV officals decrying the testing.

[suffragette]

6. "Why don't they call it 'Hell Strake?''

The test has been named ''Divine Strake,'' adding to the outrage felt by many Native Americans, who say the test site sits on sacred land.

''It's a mystery why they call it 'divine','' said Carrie Dann, a grandmother and executive director of the Western Shoshone Defense Project. ''Isn't 'divine' used for your deity, God, your sacredness? Why don't they call it 'Hell Strake?'''

''When you are working testing weaponry of destruction of life, you should not associate it with 'divine','' Dann added. ''We want this insanity to stop. No more bombs and no more testing.''

Best comment yet I've seen about the naming of this test and the insanity of doing this.

Edited for typos

[tocqueville]

9. what a bunker buster test could look like

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plowshare

[Liberty Belle]

11. I hope they go on the warpath.

What our government does in our name sickens me.