Declaration of F-35 Immoralities
I. THE F-35 BASING DECISION PROCESS WHICH SELECTED VERMONT WAS IMMORAL BECAUSE IT WAS BASED ON, AND SOLD TO THE PUBLIC WITH, LIES.
The basing selection process started with a lie. Lies, deception, manipulation, and falsification of information permeated the process.
• Vermont Air National Guard officials lied to the Air Force by telling them that there were no homes in the noise zone.* This resulted in the Vermont Air National Guard Station receiving a falsely high score without which Burlington would likely never have been a candidate for the F-35 basing.
• Vermont Air National Guard officials lied to the people.*
1.They claimed the F-35 would be no louder than the F-16.
2.They claimed they could “mitigate” the noise.
3.They claimed the Vermont Air Guard Station would close down without the F-35.
• Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy lied to the U.S. Air Force and to his constituents.* See accompanying document, “Leahy’s Legacy of F-35 Lies and Corruption”.
*See “Evidence of Corruption of the F-35 Burlington Basing Process”
————————————————————————-
II. THE F-35 BASING IN VERMONT IS IMMORAL BECAUSE IT NEEDLESSLY HARMS — by U.S. AIR FORCE ESTIMATES — 6,663 PEOPLE IN THE BURLINGTON AREA.
Thousands of people may be harmed physically, cognitively, economically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
1. Repeated exposure to F-35 noise is physically dangerous, especially to infants, children, the elderly, and the infirm resulting in damaging effects on the heart, cholesterol, stress hormones, hearing, and more.
2. Repeated exposure to the F-35 noise will impair the learning abilities of many children, sometimes with life-long consequences.
3. The F-35 noise may cause thousands of homes to decline in value.
4. The F-35 noise may force many residents to move out of the area made unsuitable for residential use resulting in personal expense and household disruption.
5. The F-35 noise may undermine or totally eliminate entire neighborhoods.
6. Residents trapped in the noise zone may have to pay more out-of-pocket and/or more in taxes to match FAA noise insulation money.
7. Property taxes on all city residents could likely be increased to pay for noise mitigation measures.
8. Contaminants from F-35 chemical stealth coating runoff can pollute the water and ground soil.
9. The technically-flawed F-35 may endanger the safety and lives of civilians and of military members.
All of these harms will fall disproportionally on the most vulnerable, including people of color (or minorities, as the Air Force calls them in the EIS) and people with low incomes.
————————————————————————
III. THE F-35 IS IMMORAL BECAUSE IT IS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
The F-35 is an offensive weapon system designed to attack other nations.
1. It perpetuates militarism and war.
2. It is based on the myth that it defends our nation and protects our freedom.
3. It validates nuclear weapons and makes nuclear war more likely.
4. It is the most expensive weapon system in history, and dramatically increases an already massive defense budget.
5. It siphons money away from human needs.
6. It siphons money needed to defend against 21st century security threats such as terrorism and cyber attacks over which it is powerless.
7. It is powerless to defend against a nuclear attack; and may prompt a nuclear war.
8. It is a major contributor to climate change, requiring huge amounts of fossil fuel—both to produce and fly.
9. It is manufactured with toxic components that could jeopardize the health and safety of persons nearby.
10. F-35 technical problems, which have resulted in crashes, risks the lives of those in the vicinity of a crash.
