SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Efforts by several peace groups to stop the Blue Angels air show during Fleet Week have gained the support of Supervisor Chris Daly.
After intense lobbying by Veterans for Peace, CodePink, and Global Exchange, Daly is drafting language on a non-binding resolution urging Congress to stop the Navy fighter jets from flying over San Francisco.
“They’re weapons of mass destruction and there’s really nothing, I think, about them that people should think of as being good or desirable,” said Paul Cox with Veterans for Peace. “In a time where we’ve got a war going on in Iraq, it brings images of the kinds of death and destruction these things rain down on people around the world.”
The aerial display has been the center piece of Fleet Week since 1981. The event brings an estimated $4 million into the city that weekend, according to the mayor’s office, which opposes the legislation Daly has promised to introduce on Tuesday.
Edward Leonard, long-time chair of Fleet Week said without the Blue Angels flying overhead, the other activities do not amount to much.
“I think this kind of thing would be a shame. A lot of people love the Blue Angels and love Fleet Week and it would be very distressing for them if it wasn’t here,” he said.
Leonard said other objections, such as noise pollution and safety, are also unmerited.
“The FAA approves all their maneuvers. Most of the difficult maneuvers and high turn maneuvers are done in an air show box over the Bay that’s kept clear of vessels and people.”
(jro)
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KCBS' Barbara Taylor reports
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