Military Bases

Ruby Friese Shubkagle, a retired Morgan State University educator whose teaching career spanned more than 50 years, died Nov. 3 in her sleep at College Manor in Lutherville. She was 97. Dr. Shubkagle was born and raised in Westminster, where she graduated from Westminster High School in 1931. She earned a degree from what was then the Towson State Normal School and earned a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University. She earned another master's degree and her Ph.D.

It is fascinating to read of all these organizations that want to do so much for us. The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the U.S. Department of Defense to put an end to the ban on women in combat. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Boxer want the environment on military bases to be made safer by reducing the amount of lead to which our troops are exposed ("Lead limits on military firing ranges outdated, reports says," Dec. 4). These advocates even cited evidence that pregnant women should not be exposed to levels of lead for risk of spontaneous abortion.

As Americans are being lulled into believing our wars are winding down, I was appalled to read Robert Koehler's recent commentary about U.S. power in the world ("Can an empire show compassion?" Aug. 5). Do I want to live in a hyper-militarized American empire? Absolutely not. There is nothing in our Constitution to mandate we dominate the planet, and if history is any guide, such a philosophical change spells disaster. It's despicable that we have more than 1,000 military bases worldwide and simultaneously have created a form of armed intervention based on presidential whim.

Despite the movement in Congress toward relaxing environmental regulation, a Hunt Valley-based environmental services company yesterday said that its primary business of cleaning up military bases is not threatened."

Location, quality of life and a pro-business environment are three of the reasons some 8,800 companies call Howard County home, creating more than 148,000 jobs. According to the Howard County Economic Development Authority, this county boasts almost 60 million square feet of office, industrial and flex space. In Howard County, among the wealthiest in the nation with a median household income of $101,867, approximately one-third of the residents commute to Washington, about 20 miles south, while another one-third commute to Baltimore, just 10 miles north.

After a week of President Barack Obama's typical lying fashion, his administration finally admitted that the terrorist assault on the American consulate in Benghazi and the assassination of Ambassador Chris Stevens was a preplanned operation by anti-American jihadists possibly linked to al-Qaida ("Libya assault 'terrorist act,'" Sept. 21). Presenting it as a random attack linked to the recent Islamic riots would absolve his administration of the guilt of failing to prevent what happened.

There was a time not long ago when many of my friends in Congress thought the chance of closing a domestic military base was about the same as the chance of Yasser Arafat partying at the White House with Yitzhak Rabin.Guess what.Messrs. Arafat and Rabin were last seen hands clasped one to the other on the South Lawn of the White House. And unless Congress rules otherwise at the last minute, we're about to set the wheels in motion to close 130 U.S. military bases.That's right. Our government has actually found a way to beat the political resistance and close obsolete military bases.

Last week, Marylanders saw first-hand why cutting the federal deficit is so difficult. The Base Closure and Realignment Commission's decision to close the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Annapolis, along with facilities in Washington and Montgomery counties, reminds us that meaningful budget reductions always hurt someone. The programs that must be eliminated are not all anonymous waste. They have a human face. In this case, it is the face of ordinary working people who depend on military bases to put bread on their tables.