Hawks and Doves Know a Sacred Cow When They See It

Sherman said war is hell. He forgot to add that peace is confusing.

Politicians, especially Democrats, have been talking about the “peace dividend” for the past few years but now that it’s upon them, they’re panicking. It’s as if the connection between cutting the military budget and downsizing or closing installations hadn’t occurred to them.

The venerable El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, a 50-year-old living monument to wars past, has showed up on a list of possible closures during this decade, and every elected official in California is suddenly gasping for breath.

When Barbara Boxer and Bob Dornan are both unhappy at the same time over the same thing, you know the world has gone nutty.

Rep. Dornan’s reaction to closing El Toro is predictable and, therefore, politically consistent. But Sen. Boxer has also jumped on the Marine bandwagon, citing the potential devastating impact the closure would have on the California economy.

I’m sorry, but I ain’t buying it. As a liberal congresswoman from the Bay Area, Boxer would have jumped for joy a few years ago at the prospect of closing a Marine base in Orange County. Now, when it gets down and dirty, she has misgivings. Sure, the economy has worsened--or is it just that she’s now a U.S. senator representing the whole state?

Oh, I’m not on Boxer’s case. It’s just that all the talk about transferring the tens of billions of dollars from the Pentagon to “softer” areas like health and education sounds rather hollow if no one is willing to bite the military’s butt. You can’t free up the bucks in the Pentagon without hitting installations. Willie Sutton robbed banks because that’s where the money was; California’s getting hit with military reductions because that’s where the bases are.

In the context of the 1990s, the military is just another big, bloated corporation with too many people doing too many unnecessary tasks. Congress ought to consider itself a giant auditor.

Paring doesn’t come without pain. Ask General Motors. Ask IBM. Ask Macy’s. Ask the Irvine Co. When those places cut back, local economies feel it too. Yet they do the nasty deed because they consider it in their long-term best interest.

The advantage with military closures is that we the people supposedly get a benefit out of it. Remember the peace dividend?

So the question is: Do we want those Pentagon billions going to classrooms, hospitals and city halls or not? If we don’t, let’s quit saying we do while pretending that local economies won’t be affected.

After all the debate about a fat military, is the decision really going to center around whether local economies are hurt? Are the Marines here to save the country or save Irvine restaurants? Decisions on whether to shut down bases should be up to Congress, not the manager at Target.

Local economies are always hit in the short run by the closure or dislocation of any large employer. It’d be nice if that weren’t the case, but that isn’t how arithmetic works. You take people and their money out of a place, revenue decreases.

The key is reducing the length of the pain. If it closes at all, the El Toro base won’t close overnight. I don’t pretend to know how the mechanics of these things work, but surely they can phase out the closing and perhaps mitigate the damage. Today, President Clinton is expected to announce a plan to give grants to communities hurt most by the closures. If in fact California will take a disproportionate hit, the state’s congressional delegation could press for more.

Aid like that would be legitimate and yet wouldn’t get in the way of the overall mission, which is to slim down the military.

It will be interesting, indeed, to watch the debate flow over El Toro. Who won’t tear up at the sight of Boxer and Dornan, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Christopher Cox striding arm-in-arm into the congressional hearing to plead the case? “Please don’t take our beloved Marines!” they’ll cry.

Listening to them will provide all the pleasures normally associated with the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) crowd that is so good at stopping unpopular but necessary public projects.

Only this time, forget NIMBY. When it comes to the military, it seems, the syndrome suddenly switches to NOOMBY (Not Out Of My Back Yard)

NIMBY, NOOMBY.

It’s all so confusing. No wonder we never get anything done in this country.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.