Vieques (ve a' cus) is a small island in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a protectorate of the USA. The Spanish word means crab and in the American conversational language with some French influence, the adjective, crabby, indicates an emotional state of being angry and ornery. And once again the people of the island are living up to their namesake. They are being crabby - real crabby - and all because the United States Navy resumed shelling of the island. In the name of national defense, of course, and beyond residential areas. Angry people stormed the military institution.

Two years ago I sat on a hilltop on Culebra just a few nautical miles from Vieques and felt the resounding echoes of the occasional bombing. I wondered then if the critters in the depths of the exquisite waters were disturbed by the sound waves. Was the soft tissue of the huge turtles that made those clear azure waters their home damaged any less than the soft tissue of the citizens of the island? How many yet uncounted animals were effected?

Crabby citizens demanded the Navy put a hold on the practice bombing. And it did for a while.

The military has no where else to target practice so as to save (?) lives when fighting on a 'real' battlefield, says Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Secretary of Defense, from the Pentagon. The US is diligently searching for another site but none could possibly be as 'suitable' as Vieques.

Secretary of Justice from Puerto Rico, Anabelle Rodriques, visited officials in Washington DC to make a case for the crabby Puerto Ricans. She questioned the suitability of the bomb site. Why should there be practice in the beautiful pristine waters of the Caribbean endangering the physical health of the citizens, not to mention irreparable damage to the coral reef and its inhabitants?

But further health studies, even after a citizen died from a shell on the island, have not proven enough damaging affects in the rationale of the minds in the Pentagon to stop future bombing.

In my words we must continue the practice to make killing a better art when the watchdog of the world decides to 'protect' some unsuspecting country. C'mon guys, get real. With new sophisticated weapons developed within our bilious defense budget, will live soldiers be sent in to 'save' anybody?