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Esta página no está disponible en español. ABC News: 20/20 Give Me A Break: Wanting It Both Ways By Steve Miller March 14, 2003 BARBARA WALTERS, ABC NEWS (OC) You know the expression, you can win the battle and still lose the war? Well, that's the point of John Stossel's "Give Me A Break." tonight. JOHN STOSSEL, ABC NEWS (OC) Barbara, some people want it both ways. They don't want the violence of military training, but they do want the money. JOHN STOSSEL (CONTINUED) (VO) For 60 years American troops have trained on Vieques Island off Puerto Rico . It's a perfect place to train sailors and pilots because it's surrounded by ocean but far from shipping lanes. Then four years ago, a pilot made a tragic mistake. He dropped two bombs in the wrong place and killed David Sanis, a security guard. Immediately activists started leading protests against the Navy bombing. They pulled down fences and invaded the property saying the Navy must leave Vieques . MALE TWO, PROTESTER Tell them to get out of here. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) They claimed the bombing caused cancer and polluted the island. Famous people joined in. Al Sharpton went through the fence, so did Robert Kennedy Jr., and actor Edward James Olmos. REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, PROTESTER To stop the bombing in Vieques now, give yourselves a big round of applause. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) Elected officials got onboard. MALE THREE, ELECTED OFFICIAL It is wrong to continue the bombing of Vieques . MALE FOUR, ELECTED OFFICIAL Take it some place else. MALE FIVE, ELECTED OFFICIAL The best thing to do is pack up and get out. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRAT, NEW YORK The bombing must end. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) President Clinton agreed. PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, UNITED STATES We have not always been good neighbors on Vieques . JOHN STOSSEL (VO) He ordered the Navy to stop training here in 2003. And President Bush supported that decision. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES These are our friends and neighbors and they don't want us there. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) So now the military practices its bombing like this week's test of what they called the mother of all bombs, off the coast of Florida. So what does this mean for the huge expensive Naval base on the main island of Puerto Rico ten miles away from Vieques? This space has been home to thousands of troops who helped make the bombing possible, fueling the planes, providing food and medical care, offering shore leave to sailors. If we're no longer bombing at Vieques , says Admiral Robert Nader, the Navy doesn't need this base. Nader commands the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, 100,000 sailors and Marines, now preparing to fight in Iraq. ADMIRAL ROBERT NADER, US NAVY My responsibility is to train sailors and Marines to go into combat. I've got to do that with the money that the taxpayers provide for me. If I can't do that training in Puerto Rico, I quite frankly, don't need the facilities there. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) That came as a shock to people who live around here. MALE SIX, LOCAL RESIDENT We don't want the base to leave. MALE SEVEN, LOCAL RESIDENT This base here is good for Puerto Rico. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) The base contributes $300 million a year to the local economy. If it goes, this on-the-base Mcdonald's, these shops, this school would close. So now the politicians are upset again. It's as if some of the protesters want bombs to stop falling from the sky but money to keep falling. Most of the celebrities and politicians didn't want to be interviewed about that, but New York Congressman Jose Serrano agreed to talk. JOHN STOSSEL (CONTINUED) (OC) We heard a lot of get out. Now, they're getting out. You're not happy. You want it both ways. REPRESENTATIVE JOSE SERRANO, NEW YORK No. The base was never related entirely in the bombing. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) Serrano says the protest was only about Vieques, not about the base on the main island. He says the Navy wants to close that base just to punish the protesters. REPRESENTATIVE JOSE SERRANO The Navy is saying, we'll fix you. We're getting out but we're taking everything. JOHN STOSSEL (OC) We may need these men in Iraq. We need the money. We keep it open? Isn't this a waste of money? REPRESENTATIVE JOSE SERRANO Well, one could argue that half of the military budget has been a waste of money for a long time. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) He says the military shouldn't have any say in closing the base. REPRESENTATIVE JOSE SERRANO The military doesn't speak in this country. The military keeps quiet. Let Congress decide if it wants to close that base. JOHN STOSSEL (OC) Think it will? REPRESENTATIVE JOSE SERRANO I don't think so. When the President realizes that it's getting close to 2004 and this becomes another Latino political issue again, he's going to tell them, you don't have to go and they won't go. JOHN STOSSEL (VO) He may be right. With votes at stake, politicians may spend millions on a base the Navy doesn't even want. "Give me a break." BARBARA WALTERS (OC) I remember all those protesters. So taxpayers lose, politicians win, when do they decide? JOHN STOSSEL (OC) Not for two years. Congress will have a commission and decide whether to close the base. In the meantime, it stays open. They do some training, they have the bowling alley. You pay for it. I think if you're not bombing, you don't need a place to prepare to bomb. BARBARA WALTERS (OC) Sounds logical, but since when does logic win? JOHN STOSSEL (OC) Not often. BARBARA WALTERS (OC) We'll be right back. BARBARA WALTERS (CONTINUED) (OC) That's our program for tonight. Thank you for joining us. I'm Barbara Walters. I'll see you next week here and on "The View." And for all of us at "20/20" enjoy the weekend and good night.
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