Guam

Re "Clinton Basks in Guam's Enthusiasm," Nov. 24: While I was working in Guam in 1969, it was announced that President Nixon was coming to the island. Then, Guam still had Japanese soldiers in hiding, regular midnight flights for honeymooners from Tokyo had been recently initiated and, occasionally, an Australian cruise ship stopped by. My wife, daughters and I lived in a house not far from Agana. One could feel the excitement in the community for the pending event. Cleanup programs were immediately initiated.

Japan readied its missile defense systems Tuesday against a possible North Korean weapons test, saying it would shoot down any missiles or debris if Japanese territory was threatened. Patriot anti-missile batteries were deployed on the grounds of the Defense Ministry in Tokyo and at military installations in and around the capital, according to Japanese news reports. The PAC-3 batteries will also be based on the island of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. troops in Japan, sooner than planned in response to North Korea's threats, the Asahi Shimbun reported . Deploying the anti-missile system in Tokyo is “part of our moves to establish a system to protect the lives of our citizens and ensure their safety,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference, according to Jiji Press . Suga earlier said that the missiles will be used solely to protect Japan, according to the Japan Times . Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for Japan to reinterpret its constitution, which bans waging war, to allow Japan to intercept missiles fired at United States targets.

Support for granting Guam's desire for commonwealth status is growing in Washington, a welcome if belated response to the long campaign of the Guam people. "We know that we cannot become a state at this time, but we no longer want to be a colony," the governor of Guam, Joseph F. Ada, wrote in these pages recently. His words should be heeded. An extensive report by a federal inter-agency task force will be the basis for congressional action.

SEOUL-- Many South Koreans have maintained their general blasé attitude toward North Korea regardless of recent bombastic rhetoric from Pyongyang, in some cases treating it as a case of “the boy who cried wolf.” The chance of a war with North Korea or a nuclear attack by the communist regime seems too farfetched to worry much, many South Koreas said this week. An entertainment cable channel offered humorous tips on what to do if a war breaks out that included the host enjoying a curry and rice MRE, the ready to eat meal used by the military.

Los Angeles detectives in Guam are expected to return today with a fugitive accused of abusing two boys under his foster care in 1998, officials said. Domingo Ramon Cruz, 55, pleaded guilty to molesting the boys, ages 5 and 10, but was granted probation in 1999. Prosecutors successfully appealed the decision, but Cruz had fled to the Philippines, where he eluded police by dressing as a woman.

The corruption trial of former Gov. Ricardo J. Bordallo opened Monday in U.S. District Court with 81 prospective jurors being interviewed and none seated. Bordallo, 59, is charged with extortion, bribery and wire fraud for allegedly accepting more than $140,000 in payoffs while he was governor.

A long-awaited audit released Monday by the Guam public auditor has concluded that court officials in the U.S. territory apparently circumvented bidding requirements to secretly hire lobbyist Jack Abramoff to fight a proposal to reorganize the Pacific island's judicial system. According to the audit, bids were required for contracts in excess of $10,000. The payments to Abramoff, which totaled $324,000, were made in 36 checks issued to Laguna Beach lawyer and lobbyist Howard Hills.

Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton by seven votes in the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday. The count of more than 4,500 ballots took all night. Neither candidate campaigned in the U.S. island territory in person, but both did long-distance media interviews and bought campaign ads. The count, completed this morning, showed that Obama's slate received 2,264 votes to Clinton's 2,257. That means the candidates will split the four pledged-delegate votes.

With a weathered thumb, William Putney traced on a map the route his Marines took through Guam during World War II and paused, tapping the spot where 25 members of his special forces lie buried in a remote jungle. "That's no place for war heroes," Putney said. "They deserve better." These fallen troops were the dogs of war: Doberman pinschers and German shepherds that sniffed out mines, carried messages, scouted trails and guarded camp during the gritty liberation of Guam in 1944.

The 1940s a cappella tune crackles from the local radio station: "Sam, Sam, oh dear Uncle Sam, won't you please come back to Guam." It is a call that the Pentagon is answering with a resounding "yes." After three decades of troop reductions, the U.S. military has quietly begun ramping up its presence on this remote Pacific island. And most residents are putting out the welcome mat, hoping that a renewed commitment from Uncle Sam will revive the U.S. territory's slumbering economy.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it is sending a mobile missile defense system to Guam as a "precautionary move," as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger" to the U.S. military base on the western Pacific island, as well as to allies and other U.S. territory. North Korea has named Guam and Hawaii as potential targets in a series of bellicose statements in recent weeks that have raised tensions on the Korean peninsula and prompted a series of military moves aimed at beefing up the U.S. military presence in the region and reassuring allies that the U.S. will come to their aid in case of attack The decision to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to Guam comes after Pentagon officials were questioned in recent days about whether the island -- which is a U.S. territory -- has been covered by the U.S. missile defense system.

SEOUL -- In what is becoming a daily ritual, North Korea has threatened the United States, saying it is prepared to strike with “smaller, lighter and diversified” nuclear weapons. The statement from the North Korean military, relayed early Thursday by the Stalinist regime's official news agency, seemed aimed at rebutting assessments by U.S. intelligence that North Korea's nuclear weapons are too large and heavy to be deployed on ballistic missiles. The U.S. has also said it doesn't believe North Korean missiles are capable of reaching the U.S. mainland or Hawaii.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Wednesday that it was sending a mobile missile defense system to Guam as a "precautionary move," as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea posed a "real and clear danger" to the U.S. military base on the western Pacific island, as well as to allies and other U.S. territory. North Korea has named Guam and Hawaii as potential targets in bellicose statements in recent weeks, which have increased tension on the Korean peninsula and prompted a series of U.S. military moves aimed at beefing up the American presence in the region and reassuring allies that the United States will come to their aid in the event of an attack.

SEOUL -- In the latest in a series of escalating threats, North Korea's top command announced Tuesday that it has put its artillery and strategic rocket units under what it called "No. 1 combat readiness," targeting the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Guam and South Korea.   The communist state's news agency, KCNA, carried the supreme command's statement, which warned of "actual military action ... to protect the nation's sovereignty and highest dignity. "   The Stalinist state has been ramping up its bellicose rhetoric in recent weeks in response to new U.N. sanctions and joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea.

Michele Wein Layne decided on a career change 17 years ago when she was at her office at 10 p.m. poring over a mind-numbing legal document. Layne was an up-and-coming corporate litigation lawyer at a big Los Angeles law firm. But the grueling hours and unrewarding work left her miserable. She wanted something more meaningful, and soon after joined the Securities and Exchange Commission's local office as a lawyer fighting investment fraud and insider trading. After a series of promotions, she was chosen last month to lead the 150-person office.

LONDON - Sarah Attar and Amy Atkinson finished last in their respective 800-meter heats Wednesday morning but both women still took great strides forward. Attar, a Pepperdine University junior who became Saudi Arabia's first female track Olympian , received a huge ovation from the crowd at the Olympic Stadium when she was introduced and an even louder ovation after she crossed the finish line. Her time was 2 minutes, 44.95 seconds, placing her 39 th among 40 competitors, but her performance requires some context.

A U.S. grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor and the inquiry ended soon after. The previously undisclosed Guam inquiry is separate from a federal grand jury in Washington that is investigating allegations that Abramoff bilked Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.

A grand jury in Guam on Tuesday indicted a Laguna Beach attorney and a former Guam court official on charges they conspired to circumvent the U.S. territory's procurement laws in the secret hiring of then-Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Indicted were Howard L. Hills of Laguna Beach and Anthony P. Sanchez, former administrator of the Guam Superior Court. The two are to appear in Guam Superior Court on Feb. 7.

LONDON - If Michael Phelps has positioned himself as the retiring elder statesman of U.S. swimming, on the receiving end of a tweet and a call from President Obama, Ryan Lochte might be edging toward the role of swimming's bad boy. Lochte proclaimed these Olympics "my time" for months in advance, then won two gold medals in six events. He swam his last event on Thursday night and promptly embarked on a media blitz, including appearances on NBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Eurosport, E! and Access Hollywood.

LONDON -- Biola University graduate Amy Atkinson will have some first-person Olympic stories to share with her students when she launches her teaching career in a few weeks. Atkinson, who played on Biola's women's soccer team as an undergraduate and returned to the private Christian university in La Mirada to get her teaching credential last year, will compete for Guam in the women's 800-meter run. She was 12 when she and her family moved to Guam, a U.S. territory where her father is a pastor and her parents and two brothers still live.