I was in Palau in September when, by coincidence, an article was published in the Island Times that described the Compacts of Free Association as American “imperial” oppression in service to a “Permanent Oceanic Empire”.
All in all, the article argues, the Americans are harmful. Remove them and all will be well.
The Quote That Isn’t A Quote
But what really got my attention was that the article quoted me.
And the quote was placed ‘front and center.’
Here it is: “’This relationship that the freely associated states has with the United States is unprecedented,’ Col. Grant Newsham (ret.) told Congress as (COFA) negotiations were ongoing in June 2023. They may be ‘the only three countries on Earth that have given up their sovereignty and control of a part of their government to the United States.’”
This is what I said. But it is not what I said.
The quote was from my Congressional testimony last year. And the meaning was very different than the reporter suggests.
I was highlighting to the US Congress, Capitol Hill, and American officialdom in general the importance of the COFA agreements with Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of Marshall Islands.
I emphasized that the United States should value and prioritize this relationship – and pass the renewal of key elements of the COFA agreements immediately.
As for giving up sovereignty, I emphasized the voluntary decision by Palau and others to enter the Compact is sin fact, an act of trust that needs to be properly valued in Washington.
As my written testimony underlined, “the COFA agreements can be terminated. Additionally, even if the United States has the sole legal right to conduct military operations in the COFA states – and even set up military bases if it wants to do so, local popular and political support is nonetheless necessary”.
Sovereignty in Palau… and Japan, Britain, and the United States
And if, as the article claims, Palau is undermining its sovereignty by having defense agreements with the U.S., it is in good company – so have major powers like Japan, Britain, and a number of countries that have entered into agreements with the United States that allow the stationing of US forces and even establishment of US bases in their nations. And all in exchange for a promise the United States will protect them.
Japan, for example, hosts about ten major US bases and around 50,000 US troops. Meanwhile, in all the Compact countries – in spite of all the talk of military domination in the article, and the fact Palau asked the US to base there – there is only one major base, at Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.
And through the defense agreements, the Americans are giving up some of their own ‘sovereignty’ via the obligation to defend Palau (and Japan and others), including to sacrifice American lives, should it be necessary.
Read the rest at The Island Times.
Grant Newsham is a Senior Fellow at Yorktown Institute.
