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Japan-U.S. 'defense' talks must be directed toward U.S. base withdrawal
Akahata editorial

In Japan-U.S. "defense" talks, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stressed the importance of maintaining deterrence in response to Defense Agency Director General Ohno Yoshinori's view that the task is to reduce the burden (on local residents), mainly in Okinawa. The U.S. defense secretary indicated that the U.S. puts priority on maintaining and even strengthening the U.S. military bases in Japan.

In the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting last February, Japanese Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka and DA Chief Ohno, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld published a joint statement which included the need to reduce burdens on localities, including Okinawa. However, the recent talks concerning U.S. military realignment are used to explore ways to maintain and strengthen the U.S. bases, far from reducing the burdens on host localities.

Arrogance of U.S. government

Speaking of "burden," U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said that the United States gives a bigger percentage of 3.5 percent of GNP to the defense budget compared to 0.98 percent in Japan. Sidestepping the issue of burdens of the U.S. bases shouldered by local residents, Rumsfeld insisted that the United States bears a greater military budget burden and that Japan isn't in a position to complain about its burden. If the United States feels a burden in the military budget, the answer is to reduce it.

Completely ignoring the Japanese people's calls for a peaceful Japan and world without wars, the U.S. forces use their military bases in Japan as a foothold for their expeditions abroad in wars of aggression. Since the period of the U.S. occupation, the return of the administrative right to Japan and up to now, Okinawans have suffered from land seizures by the U.S. military, heinous crimes committed by U.S. military personnel, crashes of U.S. military aircraft, and noise and environmental pollution. In Japan's mainland where U.S. bases exist, there is a similar danger of possible crashes during low-altitude flying training. Local governments and residents hosting U.S. bases have every reason to demand that their burdens be reduced. The Rumsfeld remarks are openly hostile to the Japanese people who want the danger and difficulty caused by the U.S. bases to be taken away.

The Koizumi Cabinet's subservience to the U.S. is encouraging the U.S. government to take an even more arrogant attitude toward Japan. Basically, it is going to meet the U.S. demand for further reinforcement of U.S. bases in Japan. It has to mention "reducing Japan's burden" because of its worry that the anti-U.S. base movement will increase further.

Japan failed to deal with the "reduction of Japan's burden" call as a focal issue of the bilateral defense talks. Defense chief Ohno at the June 4 press conference stated, "I just cited the Okinawa issue as a possible core matter." He was never representing keen public demands calling for the withdrawal of U.S. bases from Japan.

Defense chiefs in the talks agreed that relocating U.S. bases in Japan will be settled individually in 2005. The Koizumi Cabinet must urge the U.S. in these talks to carry out the agreed reduction of U.S. bases in Okinawa as promised to the Japanese people.

Opposition growing elsewhere against U.S. bases

In Okinawa, 30,000 people met in Ginowan City in 2004 in protest against the U.S. helicopter crash incident, and recently 24,000 people in a human-chain surrounded the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station. Major calls in Okinawa are for the U.S. bases to be closed and withdrawn.

In Kanagawa, the U.S. plan to relocate the U.S. Army Corps First Command to U.S. Army Camp Zama, which, if enacted, will mean perpetuating the base, indefinitely met a surge of opposition, headed by the mayors of Zama and Sagamihara cities. Also, U.S. plans to relocate the Carrier Air Wing Five and Night Land exercises (NLPs) field from U.S. Atsugi Naval Air Station to U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station are meeting strong opposition.

The movement in opposition to the U.S. defense posture review is gaining in unprecedented strength in Japan.

Let's force the Japanese and U.S. governments toward accepting the people's demand for the elimination of damages caused by U.S. bases. -- Akahata, June 15, 2005