LA Times: Ellsworth AF Base in S Dakota to remain open, Thune's ass saved

[Nothing Without Hope]

A temporary reprieve for the Cannon, New Mexico base closing was also announced; the base will now be kept open at least until 2009, although striipped of its four F-16 fighter squadrons.

For a general background at the time that the base closure plans were announced, including reports from several major newspapers and maps, see this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1782877&mesg_id=1782877
thread title: LAT: Military base closings will shift troops to the South- POLITICS!!!

This announcement that Ellsworth will be spared will rescue John Thune, whose campaign against Tom Daschle was based mostly on the claim that being a Republican, he would have a better chance to argue to keep the base. According the the LAT article, the base employs about 4000 South Dakotans and contributes an estimated $278 million a year to the state's economy. Thune has been sweating since the initial announcement, and now we can be sure he will be crowing in triumph.

From the first, the claims of the Pentagon that the projected base closings would save so much money (actually rather little compared to the cost of the middle Eastern wars) have been disputed. There is more counter-evidence cited in this article - see the bolded section in the excerpt. I don't know the reasons why the neocons want this massive shift of bases, but whatever they are, I am deeply suspicious of them. The Pentagon does appear to be lying about the savings, and all the other potential reasons that occur to me for the move are rather sinister. (Like solidifying military presence in more GOP-dominated areas.) I'd like to see a more extensive discussion on the probable true reasons - which are likely to be poltical - by people who really know the subject.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bases27aug27,1,240565.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
August 27, 2005
latimes.com : National News

In Final Slap to Pentagon, Bases Are Spared in S. Dakota, New Mexico

By John Hendren, Times Staff Writer

ARLINGTON, Va. — Continuing to defy Pentagon proposals, the military base closure commission Friday spared South Dakota's B-1 bomber base and rejected the proposed shutdown of a major Air Force base in New Mexico.

(snip)

Pentagon strategists had sought to close Ellsworth, a hub for nuclear bombers and missiles during the Cold War, and move its fleet of B-1 bombers to Dyess Air Force Base outside Abilene, Texas. But freshman Republican Sen. John Thune and other South Dakota base supporters argued that national security would be threatened by keeping the nation's entire fleet of B-1 bombers at one site.

For Thune, it was an important battle because he had waged a successful political campaign against former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in part by arguing he could do a better job of protecting Ellsworth and its 4,000 jobs.

(snip)

Factors that persuaded commissioners to keep Ellsworth open, they said, were the open air space surrounding the base and their staff's analysis of the financial impact of the base's closure. The staff report concluded that although the Pentagon estimated a savings of $1.8 billion over two decades, the plan would have actually cost nearly $20 million. It also found that the Pentagon listed some personnel costs as savings when the employees would have remained on the payroll at other bases and that the Defense Department did not account for the expense of moving the operations

(snip)

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. Predictably, the WaPo has an entire article on how Thune has "delivered"

Tell me again about those "liberal media." Thune supporters will be handing this one out for sure.

The article dwells glowingly on the words of Larry J. Sabato, founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics: "{Thune} was on the fast track to a national ticket or Senate leadership until Ellsworth was threatened. Now he can claim another great triumph, and he's established some independence from the White House," Sabato said. "Given Bush's unpopularity, Republicans may be looking for a non-Bush figure who still keeps the conservative faith."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082601599.html

Thune Delivers on Campaign Vow

Senator's Future Brightens as S.D. Base Survives the Cut
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 27, 2005; Page A06

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) sat tense, crouched and glowering as the base-closing commission delivered its verdict about Ellsworth Air Force Base in the ballroom of a Crystal City hotel yesterday, then leapt up gleefully when the bomber base's death sentence was commuted.

The 44-year-old's political career may have been spared as well.

Last fall, Thune unseated Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) in part by claiming that a Republican tight with the White House would have a better chance of saving the perennially impaired Ellsworth, a Cold War arsenal in the middle of the prairie. So it was potentially calamitous for Thune back home in May when the Pentagon put Ellsworth on the list of closure recommendations for the independent Base Realignment and Closure commission.

Thune, a former House member whose status as the Daschle slayer has made him a popular speaker before GOP groups, had long told the White House that losing Ellsworth -- South Dakota's largest employer after the state government -- was the one issue that could make him a one-term senator.

(snip)

[Geoff R. Casavant]

6. Yeah, but don't forget

The whole revised BRAC list must go before Congress and Pres, for a straight up or down vote on the whole package -- there's enough for everyone to be angry about that this round may not pass and they'll have to start over.

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. True. Overall, I'd still like to hear a discussion about the REAL reasons

why the Pentagon has been pushing for moving these bases. They are lying about saving money, that's clear. The other potential reasons I can think of are far more sinister. So I wish people who are knowledgeable in this area would explain what is REALLY going on here.

[kentuck]

2. Thune saved ?

I think it may take more than Ellsworth to save his butt..?

[izzie]

3. Maybe they have to go South for this?

Govt. can not get a loan from China to buy oil to keep the building heated?

[bribri16]

4. That fact that Rummy put the base on the list should mean something

but it won't. Dittoheads are dittohead forever.

[seaglass]

5. Thune gave equal credit to Johnson, too bad no one is

picking this up. But maybe the people of SD will remember this.

http://blackhillsportal.com/npps/story.cfm?id=1004

Thune and Johnson Committed to Work Together for South Dakota
South Dakota's Senators Set a New Precedent for South Dakota

By U.S. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and John Thune (R-SD)

Ellsworth Air Force Base – We were both devastated when we learned that the Pentagon had placed EAFB on the list of bases it proposes to close. While being on the list isn’t necessarily a death-blow to Ellsworth, it certainly is a matter of grave concern to our state and to the two of us. We’ve worked together to obtain the Department of Defense data that was used to make the decision to put EAFB on the list. Further, we’ve worked together to strongly make the case for keeping Ellsworth open and to delay the current round of base closures until the overseas base realignment is completed. We believe that putting EAFB on the closure list was an error – using the Defense Department’s own criteria – and, if it is not changed, will put South Dakota in a very difficult position economically and make our nation more vulnerable militarily.

Let's see if Thune is an honorable man and will continue to share the credit.

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. The report you cite is sure different from what is in the Wash Post, which

is a paean to Thune and how this will enhance his Senatorial career.

[CityDem]

9. AWOL threw a bone to Thune

AWOL owns Thune for the next 3 years.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. Well, that's ONE genuine reason I could accept for calling for the closing

of the bases - allowing GOP congress members to "rescue" the bases and thereby get more support.

But it's obviously not the most important reason no matter how elated Thune may be at his rescue. I really think that people who know about this subject should be examining WHY the neocons want this massive redistribution. My own suspicion is along the lines that they want the military power and hardware in GOP-dominated parts of the country in order to consolidate their own power.

I keep wondering: is this related to plans to eventually call for martial law? With the bases consolidated in GOP areas, is this being done to strengthen their strategic position?

[CityDem]

11. You are correct

In the case of Ellsworth AFB, the B1 bombers based there were slated to move to Texas. Any coincidence there?

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. Nope, no coincidence at all. With this bunch, when you know they're lying

about the reason for something big that they're doing, you have to be very worried about the REAL reasons. I do think the progressives are overlooking something big and highly significant in the proposed moving of all those bases as well as what will be "agreed" upon at the end. There is something sinister here, I feel sure of it. It sure isn't about saving money, as if they cared about that. In fact, it's likely that it will save very little and might actually end up costing money to do this.

Why, then? I don't think it's going to be reasons we will be willing to live with, and I think we need to find out what they really are.

[Arkana]

13. Meanwhile, Hanscom AFB gets hosed.

Thanks a lot, Dumbya.

[yourout]

14. This stinks in sooooo many ways.

I would bet a weeks pay this either was scripted from the get go to make Thune look good or there is some serious wheeling and dealing going on behind the sceen. I just hope the Dems on the BRAC are not on the take.