Editor,

Well, the former Al Jazeera reporter released yet another bogus article in the fringe “Truth Out” publication. Proffering the red herring titles, “Did the U.S. Navy break federal laws,” to “Push war games over national forests?” with no facts but quoting rabid, anti-military zealots.

He is part of an orchestrated scheme to barrage and influence gullible politicians to eliminate traditional Navy training in the desolate Olympic National Forest. It is not about the “noise,” where aircraft at 10,000 feet are less noisy than a lawnmower, or about the “radiation,” equivalent to that of a TV truck 80 miles from Port Townsend.

It is simply about a wealthy group, cloaked in “environmentalism” and led by California transplants who are vehemently anti-military.

One of their leaders released an email to a broad media and public group on 29 Oct that codified this “Growler hatred:” “When I hear the growlers, airplanes designed to detect and destroy radar systems, I know that a nuclear war is being prepared and is practiced for daily. I think of the military not so much as servants of our freedom, but rather part of the military industrial congressional media drug thug complex.”

He went on to say, “helping the coming lawsuit that will challenge the Navy’s abuse of the Environmental Impact Statement process is a duty.”

And there you have it, wealthy groups, enabled by fringe media, will stop at nothing to stop Navy training in traditional areas, jeopardizing our national defense and the thousands of jobs is “their duty.”

Tragic.

Their pockets are deep, and with over 50,000 in overseas signatures on their petition, it is speculated that they are receiving foreign funding.

The real facts, however, will win the day. A recent article in Navy Currents magazine clearly shows the real profile of the Growler. And political leaders like Congressman Kilmer and State Parks Commissioner Peter Goldmark are no longer fooled by this disingenuous group.

Scott Smith

Oak Harbor