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The US Army recently made a final decision to station its 2\/25th Stryker Brigade on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu permanently, saying that it’s for the sake of maximizing national security. The Army uses 150,000 acres of the state, including one-quarter of O\u2019ahu. The move was legally challenged early on by environmental and Native Hawaiian organizations. But the army insisted on its choice of Hawaii because it is apparently “best able to meet the Army’s strategic defense and national security needs in the Pacific theater.” Meanwhile, legislatively, the House last year passed the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 also known as the Akaka bill after Senator Daniel Akaka. Among other things, the Akaka bill would allow for the formation of a governing body for native Hawaiians, similar to that of American Indians. That governing body would negotiate with state and federal governments over land and other resources. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, promised to sign the bill into law if he wins the White House. But members of the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement say that the Akaka bill “would turn back one of the most important victories of the last four decades \u2014 the rise of Hawaiian self-determination, including independence, as a political possibility.” Several activists from The Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement signed a letter recently published in the Nation Magazine calling for solidarity from mainland progressive groups. <\/p>\n Read the open letter published on the Nation Magazine here: http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/doc\/20080428\/open_letter<\/a><\/p>\nGUEST: Noelani Goodyear-Kaopua, assistant professor of political science, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Ikaika Hussey, convenor of the Movement for Aloha No ka Aina (MANA)<\/em><\/p>\n