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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Stop allowing U.S. to use Japan's capital as stronghold for wars of aggression
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The United States maintains 87 military bases in Japan, 26 of which are located in Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures (Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba). Tokyo alone hosts eight U.S. bases including the Yokota Air Base.

No other country hosts a foreign military base in their capital 61 years after the end of World War II. We reject the strengthening and perpetuating of the functions of U.S. bases that the Japanese and U.S. governments are pushing forward with in disregard of local residents' call for an early return of base sites.

Directly connected to distant wars

The U.S. Yokota Air Base has played a major role in the U.S. wars of aggression. The Headquarters of the U.S. forces in Japan and the 5th Air Force Headquarters are located at the Yokota base, where about 20 warplanes including C130 transport aircraft are permanently stationed and C5 transport planes and fighter aircraft are continually flying in.

In the Iraq war, U.S. Air Force personnel in charge of maintenance, communication, construction and medical care were sent from the Yokota base to support the U.S. air strikes. Functioning as a main transit point in sending military materials and troops from the U.S. mainland to war zones, the Yokota base has worked as a lever to carry out U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The strategic role of the Yokota base has been increasing as the U.S. Air Force is seeking the capability to rapidly and simultaneously locate and attack targets globally.

By establishing a bilateral joint operations coordination center, in which the headquarters of the 5th Air Force and the Air Defense Command of the Air Self-Defense Force will take part, Japan-U.S. joint operation capability will be significantly upgraded.

The U.S. Yokota base has also been a threat to residents' daily lives and safety. A liaison council to deal with the base problems consisting of the five cities and one town hosting the Yokota base submitted a statement to the government in February, stating, "Residents are suffering from noise pollution caused by U.S. military aircraft night and day and residents always feel anxious about accidents."

Time to increase call for base removal

The Japanese people who renounced war by adopting Article 9 of the Constitution can never allow their land to be used as a foothold to support U.S. operations that kill innocent people. It is urgently needed to raise our voices to oppose the U.S. military realignment and to remove U.S. bases from Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan.
- Akahata, July 3, 2006