Island Hurricane

There’s not much room on the little island of Vieques off the southeast coast of Puerto Rico and certainly, its roughly 9,000 inhabitants insist, not enough for them and a U.S. Navy bombing range. That view was tragically underlined in April when Marine pilots accidentally dropped two bombs near an observation post, killing a security guard and wounding four other people.

Because relations between the commonwealth and Washington are often agitated, usually over political matters, the death created a furor. Puerto Ricans, all American citizens, say that the Navy has caused a string of dangerous incidents over the years in its practice bombing on Vieques. They have a point that should be addressed.

The main settlement lies in the middle of Vieques, and the Navy controls both ends of the island. Puerto Ricans say that Vieques is the only place in the Western Hemisphere where a civilian population exists so close to bombing exercises. The Navy responds that the island is its best site for staging realistic battle scenarios. The base is also used to train Drug Enforcement Agency and customs agents.

The death of the guard triggered a suspension of exercises in April, and President Clinton ordered the Defense Department to review the need for operations there and propose alternatives. Losing a bombing range would be a setback for the Navy; Southern California’s San Clemente Island is one of the few remaining. But the case of Vieques demands that the Pentagon look further. The Navy needs bombing ranges, but this little island is too tight for both bombs and people.