Related: Who Lost Japan?
"Gates warns Japan not to back out of plan to relocate US air base" by Blaine Harden, Washington Post | October 22, 2009
TOKYO - Playing hardball with its closest ally in Asia, the Obama administration warned Japan yesterday of serious consequences if it backs out of a commitment to allow the relocation of a US air base on Okinawa.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that if Japan stops the base relocation, the United States would halt the withdrawal of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa and would not, as planned, return several parcels of land.
We become MORE LIKE ISRAEL EVERY DAY!
Gates’s words, during a two-day visit here, were a blunt challenge to efforts by Japan’s month-old government to carve out a more “equal’’ relationship with Washington.
Trying to WRECK IT before it has begun, huh, Gatesey?
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide election in August with avow to be more assertive and less passive in dealing with the United States, which is treaty-bound to protect Japan in time of war.
That promise resonated loudest in Okinawa, a southern island where many residents associate the decades-old presence of tens of thousands of US forces with crime, noise, traffic, and environmental degradation.
Related: US military rape
Yeah, YOU WOULD WANT US GONE, too, 'murkn!!!
A prime focus of their frustration and anger is the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, located in an urban area that for years has been tormented by the comings and goings of helicopters.
That is the PRICE of being a BASE for EMPIRE and the COST of losing the war.
In 2006 the US and Japanese governments agreed to shift the base to a less densely populated area. But the new site is a conservation area, with an relatively unspoiled landscape and coral reefs.
So WHERE are the FART-MISTING PROTESTERS on THIS ONE?
Related: Navy wrecked coral
Yup, NOWHERE to be found!
Okinawans oppose the base relocation plan, and so do the members of the Democratic Party of Japan whom they have voted into power in the past two years.
Then LET'S COME HOME, America!
If THEY DON'T WANT US THERE, why stay? They are an ALLY!!!!!!
Under pressure from his party, Hatoyama has said he will try to relocate the Futenma base outside of Okinawa or even outside of Japan....
That is going to draw HEAT from AmeriKa!!!
For Hatoyama, the base relocation issue and the face-off with the Americans have become an early test of his leadership ability - one that could determine the success of his government.
As I said: WE ARE TRYING to WRECK IT!!
After all, U.S. can't use the Japanese Army for a coup because there really isn't one, so we have to take down this democratically-elected government this way.
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See my Japan labels for the latest bad press they are getting (as predicted here).
And apparently, the pressure worked:
TOKYO - Japan’s new government appeared to bow to intensifying pressure from visiting top US military officials, saying yesterday that it supports keeping a major US Marine airfield on the southern island of Okinawa.
The move narrows, but does not close, a rift between the two alliance partners ahead of President Obama’s visit in three weeks. The new Tokyo administration, elected in a landslide in August, is eager to assert a more independent stance with Washington - but does not want to unduly strain ties with its chief ally and key trading partner....
So much for CHANGE, 'eh, Japanese?
Admiral Mike Mullen added to that pressure yesterday during meetings with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and other officials, urging them to resolve the issue. After his meeting with Mullen, Okada said moving Futenma airfield off the tiny island “is not an option’’ - although it would be difficult to resolve the location of the new site before Obama’s Nov. 12-13 visit. “Starting from scratch on other ideas would not serve the best interests of the people of Okinawa,’’ he said....
If you WANT to SERVE THEM, then CLOSE IT DOWN! "ASK US" very nicely.
Oh, yeah, you guys ALREADY DID THAT and we said NO!
Washington has grown concerned that Tokyo was balking at key elements of the agreement, which took more than a decade of negotiations with Japan’s previous conservative administrations. Mullen said he understood Hatoyama’s desire to review the pact, but was concerned further delays could derail the timeline.
Isn't it amazing how some agreements are iron-clad and others paper-mache when it comes to AmeriKan empire, world?
“We’re barely on track with what was laid out in 2006,’’ Mullen told reporters, adding that “from a purely military perspective, it is very important that we move ahead with previous agreements.’’
*******************The Hatoyama government has signaled that it plans to end its naval mission in the Indian Ocean - tankers that have been used as refueling pit stops for Afghanistan-bound allies.
Oh, THAT also must be NEEDLING AmeriKa!!! Thus ALL the PRESSURE!!!! So the QUESTION at the TOP of this post STILL STANDS!
Instead, Tokyo is considering reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
During his visit, Gates told Okada that the refueling mission provides important support for the US coalition forces, though whether to continue the mission is Japan’s decision.
Translation: Continue to fuel our war machine -- or else.
He urged Japan to continue providing support for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yeah, he "urged" them. That is what the REST of the WORLD calls a THREAT!!!!!
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