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“FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND...”
Marshall Islands people have borne the brunt of U.S. military activity in Micronesia,
from nuclear weapons experiments and missile testing to relocations of people and radio-
active contamination of people and their environment.
All, as an American military com-
mander said of the Bikini tests, "for the good of mankind and to end all world wars."
Of eleven United Nations Trusteeships created after World War II, only Micronesia was
designated a "strategic" trust, reflecting its military importamce to the United States.
The U.N. agreement has allowed the U.S. to use the islands for military purposes, while
binding the U.S. to advance the well being of the people of Micronesia.
Western nuclear powers have looked on the Pacific, because of its emall isolated popu-
lations, as an "ideal" location to conduct nuclear activities unwanted in their own
countries.
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In addition to Bikini and Enewetak, the U.S. has tested nuclear weapons at Johnston and
Christmas Islands; the British at Christmas Island and in Australia; and the French continue to test at Moruroa and Fangataufa Atolls in "French" Polynesia. More than 180 atomic
and hydrogen bombs have been detonated in the Pacific region since 1946; over 100 by the
United States.
The health and safety of people, be they Marshallese or American citizens and military
personnel, has been a very low priority in the U.S. government's nuclear testing program.
As Commissioner Libby of the Atomic Energy Commission said in 1953: "People have got to
learn to live with the facts of life, and part of the facts of life are fallout."
The Marshall Islands Chronology tells the story of U.S. military activities in the
Marshall Islands and their effect on Marshallese peoples’ lives and environment.
It is a
story that has remained wmtold for too long.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
WEAPONS TESTING
RESETTLEMENT OF PEOPLE
Yperation CROSSROADS begins at Bikini
4
Bikinians' First Relocation, 1946
5
Bravo H-bomb test at Bikini, 1954 |
6
Enewetak People Moved to Ujelang, 1947
9
Radioactive Fallout Contaminates People
8
Kwajalein Landowners Evacuated for Tests
1%
Yongelapese Return Home, 1957
12
Crisis on Ujelang
17
kwajalein Missile Tests Begin
16
Bikini Declared Safe for Habitation
19
Inadequate Medical] Treatment Protested
22
Enewetak Cleanup Planned
Enewetakese Force Cancellation of Tests
24
Ebeye: A Biological "Time Bonb"
2?
Study Shows Unexpected Cancer Increase
26
Bikini Resettlement Attempt Fails
31
Marshallese Health Problems Worsen
32
Kwajalein People Occupy Islands
33
Sources
36
Bikini, A Nuclear Waste Dump?
37
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