It will take more than a marine base to turn guam into a "concrete jungle" as you call it.

And, maybe that's exactly what they want. Why would you presume that you speak for Guam?

Manhattan is also on the coast of the US, in the middle of NYC, has no worry of running out of fresh drinking/waste water, and has multiple routes in and out (boat/plane/train/car/bike/walk/swim...) but who wants to swim in the East River?

Guam is in the middle of the ocean, has a 0-1300 elevation range, and only has two ways on/off: boat or plane. 8,000 additional troops and their families need homes, roads, schools, offices, etc. about 80,000 (45% pop. increase at peak) people that come to construct, teach, feed, and whatnot will tax the existing water and waste systems. large influxes of foreign workers also increases the risk of introducing a foreign species to the island. before WWII, Guam didn't have any terrestrial snakes. now they eat all the birds.

the island will be okay, but it'll suffer drastic changes in a very short time. not to mention, you'd be hard-pressed to find a tropical island paradise that wants to nearly double it's population for any length of time. the exception being Tom Hanks in Castaway. and in that case, Wilson doubled the population, but didn't consume any resources.

interesting

Exactly. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Johnson’s office said the boss is simply a tremendous deadpan — and that he was using a facetious metaphor. (More on that below) But the admiral didn’t know that, and played it straight:

“We don’t anticipate that. The Guam population, I think, currently about 175,000, and again, with 8,000 marines and their families, it’s an addition of about 25,000 more into the population.”

. . .

Here’s a formal response from Johnson, via his spokesman:

“I wasn’t suggesting that the island of Guam would literally tip over,” said Johnson. “I was using a metaphor to say that with the addition of 8,000 Marines and their dependents – an additional 80,000 people during peak construction to the port on the tiny island with a population of 180,000 – could be a tipping point which would adversely affect the island’s fragile ecosystem and over burden its already overstressed infrastructure.

“Having traveled to Guam last year, I saw firsthand how this beautiful – but vulnerable island – is already overburdened, and I was simply voicing my concerns that the addition of that many people could tip the delicate balance and do harm to Guam.”

^^^he's covering up his mistake

Actually, in context it seemed pretty clear to me that he was speaking metaphorically.

It didn't seem that way to me at all.

I watched the video three times. It is clear that he meant what he said- that the island could literally tip over. All I think is that he is under the impression that islands are like lily pads, and could tip over, instead of realizing that they are the tops of underwater mountains. When I was teaching high school earth science, I had to clear up that misconception many times.

I watched it multiple times as well. What was clear to me from the entire video is that his speech pattern overall is very monotone, lacking in modulation, making everything he says sound Joe-Friday-just-the-facts-ma'am. Whether that's from medication or health or some other reason, or whether that's just how he talks (I people like that), I don't know.

But's it's something I've seen many times in court -- an attempt at sarcasm or facetiousness that falls flat because of a delivery devoid of any intonational cues.

No, he really thinks/thought that islands in the Pacific are floaters. I will bet you there are many people who believe the same. I believe he talks that way because of the drugs for his illness.

And how do you know that so definitively?

like most members of the committee, Johnson has been to Guam.

THIS

Perscriptions can be a MoeFaux. Seriously, it's sad.

Because it is what it is. Sometimes you just can't undumbass yourself when you make a stupid statement. Happens to all of us at some time or the other.