The Pacific community, not surprisingly, has reacted strongly to Washington's proposal thac a Pacific site. such as Wake. Midway, or Palmyra, be used as a storage facility. “The day has long passed,’ one Pacific journal editorialized, “‘when the United States could arbitrarily decide on which islands to bomb and which islands would be laden with nuclear waste.” Ie is difficule for outsiders to understand the importance of land to the Marshallese people. Land is not a commodity for them: it is a symbol of individual identity. Through its nuclear testing program, the United States gained a position of nuclear strength. The people of Bikini, onthe other hand. lost their land—-and with ic their identity. The testing program is over, but Bikini will bear its scars for many generations. and the United States must continue to provide direct care for the people of Bikini for the indefinice future. Twoyears ago Tomaki Juda, leader of the Bikintans. recalled before a congressional sub- committee the ironic words of Wyatt, who asked the Bikinians to leave their atoll so that ic could be used “for the good of man- kind and toend all world wars” and compared the Bikintans to the Children of Israel whom the Lord led into the “romised Land. Juda testified that his people “‘were naive then.” and he concluded: ‘‘Weare, sadly, more akin to the Children of Israel when they left Egypt and wandered through the desert for 40 years.”” Resettlement on Enew will return the Bikinians to their atoll, if not ro their home- land. and it will help them begin to rebuild their identity and dignity. 98.