The Discussion over Basing

The article that I found the most interesting out of the 4 about different reactions to US bases was the article by Matt Apuzzo titled "Local Base Closures Causing Economy Fears". I thought the fact that the Defense Department hasn't turned closed bases over to the local governments because they need environmental cleanup is kind of ridiculous. I understand that environmental cleanup is incredibly expensive and time consuming, but it really does need to happen because the land can't be left like that. If the military isn't using t hat land but is keeping control of it and expects the local economy to recover on its own, the Defense Department is quite stupid. I guess I have a problem with the government refusing to do what it needs to do because they don;t want to put up the effort or the money. The Air Force Base in Tucson was dumping chemical solvents into unlined (or poorly lined) pits for waste disposal in the 1970s and tainted the entire aquifer under Tucson.... in the desert....pretty much the only source of water for the entire Tucson metropolitan area. By the time I was born the aquifer was less tainted, and the ground water is being used for water needs, but I find it absolutely ridiculous that the Defense Department is whining about fixing the problems it has caused to American soil. I don't know why this bothers me so much right now, but there are so many consequences of basing that the Defense Department can't even quantify (or qualify) and I get the feeling that the Defense Department oversimplifies it. I think I agree with Moon's general idea that you can't just look at one level of relations, you need to look at ALL levels of relations is order to try to figure out how to create new policies or change existing ones.