The new government is reviewing an agreement with Washington on US military facilities following through on a campaign pledge to islanders who have borne the brunt of the American presence for more than 60 years. Around 50,000 American troops are based in Japan, around two-thirds of the total are in Okinawa. Resentment against their presence has grown in recent years due to a series of crimes committed by service personnel. Many of the crimes are relatively trivial, but other cases have brought tens of thousands of protesters onto the streets. In February 2008, a case against a marine accused of raping a girl aged 14 was dropped after she withdrew the accusation, apparently to avoid the ordeal of a trial. The case revived bitter memories of the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in 1995 by three US servicemen. Katsuya Okada, the foreign minister, said he wants the American military to remain in Japan but that the concentration on Japanâs most southerly islands needed to be reduced. http://www.infowars.com/japan-threatens-to-kick-out-us-troops/#
We should bring all of our service personnel home and let the Japanese and others fight their own battles. It's expensive to "provide freedom and protection"... and as in this case, not always appreciated.
I saw a Filipino article/ad that said the US govt was going to be beefing up Guam in preparation for an Okinawan drawdown. The ad was related to Filipinos seeking overseas work...
+ 1 > time to get a clue as to the realities of our economic situation. Japan is quite capable of taking care of herself. - - -
in the 1959 movie, the mouse that roared, a tiny country declares war on the united states, on the premis that the road to prosperity is to be at war with the USA, and lose it's true japs have had 60 years of free protection china and india sided with the USSR in the cold war, and now they have all our jobs only one entity has had the US government declare war on them, and not be better off our own middle/working classes
The U.S. was not âinvitedâ there to protect Japan. In fact, the U.S. presence initially was one of occupation. The positioning of U.S bases in Japan is strategic, postured to respond to contingencies in Korea and other threats in Southeast Asia. In short, we can strike back faster and better at China or North Korea (should we need to) from a base in Japan, than from a base in Idaho. Removal of the U.S. military from Japan would be a blow to U.S. security.