Editor,

I read with 100 percent anger and horror about the Navy’s decision to go ahead with proliferating the Growler right here on our island.

In Wednesday’s South Whidbey Record, according to Ssecretary of the Navy Richard Spencer, this is necessary because it is “meeting our urgent national defense priorities.”

And more than a year ago, at the Coupeville High School, the Navy used the excuse of “advanced threats” for why proliferation was necessary. That is fear mongering at its worst… No discussion, no mitigation, no amount of protest has made a dent in this horrifying war statement.

In my opinion, if our own U.S. government did not continue to invade and subjugate foreign nations for dubious reasons, usually involved with profiteering of oil, coltan, uranium, you name it, we want it, we would not be facing the total annihilation of beautiful Central Whidbey with its historic town of Coupeville and its incredible and very rare historic prairie. However, possibly worse than war mongering for profit is the fact that the United States manufactures and sells weapons of mass destruction to potential enemies around the world and then we have to defend ourselves from the very problem we have made ourselves.

We would not be able to use this argument for proliferation of the Growler of “urgent” or “advanced threats” if we had someone in the White House who understood the word “peace.”

We must be very careful who, we the people, vote in for office in 2020. Last year Trump was abroad advising all the nations he visited to “up” their military by 5 percent, meaning that we would then be able to sell them even more weapons. Eisenhower saw this, we see this, let our next president see this.

We must advocate for non-proliferation of our military. We don’t want to be the world’s enemy. We want to help and serve others and ourselves, by cultivating kindness and equanimity and compassion. We want to advocate for clean air, water, food, good education, healthy work for all, environmentally safe products for our children and grandchildren. We want to be seen as “good neighbors” to all. We want our tax money to go toward these things.

We must elect those with ethics and integrity who care about benefiting ourselves and others, and not those set out to destroy ourselves and others.

Marilyn Loustaunou

Langley