Re: Growler noise continues to grate on residents (Oak Bay News Aug. 16, 2017)
Once again, some Oak Bay residents, including Mayor Nils Jensen, are in the news complaining about escalating aircraft noise originating from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. Have the mayor and residents not noted the recent escalation of rhetoric between Kim Jong Un, the dictatorial leader of North Korea and Donald Trump, the erratic occupant of the White House?
North Korea has developed nuclear weapons, is testing ICBM’s and is working to miniaturize those weapons so they can be delivered to the West Coast of North America and, more recently, has been threatening the Island of Guam. U.S. Forces must maintain a high degree of operational readiness in order to protect US territories and, by extension, southwest B.C., including those of us fortunate enough to reside in the bubble called Oak Bay. It is estimated that about one quarter of the US nuclear arsenal is assigned to the Bangor Trident Submarine Base in Hood Canal, which is located approximately 170 miles from Oak Bay. We need that American protection, and the noise that comes with it.
It would be wonderful if mankind’s’ WMD could be converted into “ploughshares”, but that isn’t the world we live in. We need to be thankful that we live under an “umbrella of protection” provided by the U.S. without contributing anything towards the costs of its operations.
The mayor could make better use of his time working on a plan to address Oak Bay’s crumbling underground infrastructure and the Uplands sanitary/storm sewers rather than worrying about the sounds of freedom emanating from Whidbey. I’m sure the commanding officer of US Naval Air Station Whidbey is having a good chuckle over the mayor’s musings.
Colin Nielsen
Oak Bay