Faced with the destruction of their homeland, residents are to take their appeal directly to Barack Obama in an attempt to block US military plans to turn Tinian and Pagan – US territories that form part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands – into a simulated theatre of war.

Resistance to a US military “invasion” among residents has intensified since the US navy proposed using all of Pagan, which is largely uninhabited, and two-thirds of Tinian for live-fire exercises at least 16 weeks a year.

Campaigners say the arrival of thousands of navy seamen and marines on the tiny islands would obliterate rare coral ecosystems and wildlife, and force some residents to relocate.

A change.org campaign has so far attracted more than 109,000 signatures; the petition will be presented to the US president once it reaches 150,000.

The mayor of Pagan and other neighbouring islands, Jerome Aldan, said residents of the islands were “100%” opposed to the live drills.

The Republican governor of the Northern Marianas, Eloy Inos, has yet to decide if he will back the Pentagon or residents. Locals say he is weighing up protests from indigenous groups and environmentalists against lucrative construction contracts that could boost the island chain’s flagging economy.

bbabo.Net