What if, some entrepreneurial young business major at Virginia Tech, with a heart full of good intention, but a head full of air, acted on that good intention and opened a small arms gun shop on Kent Street? You know, the same Kent Street that lies directly across from Norris Hall where 33 students were gunned down back in April of 2007?
“In the name of self-defense! Our campus must be protected!” hollering indignantly, as he is quickly dragged off to his own public stoning.
Yes, at best, regardless of intention, an individual of such caliber would be, and should be publicly ostracized for his insensitivity, before being indicted and entirely removed from the position in question.

So how is it then, that the nuclear-powered ships of the United States Navy would be allowed temporary berth (to resupply and rest their crews) in the Nagasaki prefecture port town of Sasebo? Much to the discontent of local labor organizations, the USS Reagan recently did just that–its second visit to Sasebo in two years. Granted, just like the well-meaning gun shop owner, even though the Reagan was not directly involved in the bombing that left 75,000 citizens of nearby Nagasaki City dead in its nuclear wake, the nuclear class supercarrier is still a harsh reminder of sorts. A grim representative of the atomic age, as staunchly opposed by those who still remember what happened on August 9th, 1945.

So it begs the question, is it really in the name of defense? Are these Sasebo pit stops one of absolute necessity for the unsurprisingly goal-oriented U.S. Navy (Sasebo is, after all, home to U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo–a naval facility which supports forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces in the Pacific) fleet? Or are they simply continuing the traditions of a drawn-out show of force– a bully’s reminder that the U.S. presence in the Pacific is a permanent, and a necessary measure against the times?