THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510200019
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 30 lines
The Business Weekly section of The Virginian-Pilot recently listed the ship arrivals for the week. Of 45 ships arriving, only eight were flying the U.S. flag. The foreign ships were flying the flags of Panama, Antigua, Liberia, Cyprus, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas - not exactly maritime powers.
The great naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan said a strong a Navy without a strong Merchant Marine is like a tree without a root. Unfortunately. our Navy/-Marine team appears to have shallow roots and is structured to fight short wars. Navy logistics and amphibious warfare have degraded to an afterthought, more support for our carrier troops.
How did things get so bad? Maritime corporations have led the way in demonstrating what greed and short-sightedness can do. Their sole interest was the quarterly dividend.
It will take political courage on the part of our representatives to put America's national interest ahead of the big bucks of the agricultural lobby.
ROBERT P. LUCAS
Virginia Beach, Oct. 10, 1995 by CNB