July 11, 2007
It was revealed that the U.S. forces in 1961 and 1962 may have used Agent Orange, containing highly toxic dioxin, in the U.S. Marine Corps Northern Training Area in Okinawa.
A U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs document obtained by Guam parliamentarians reportedly stated that a U.S. veteran who sought compensation for his disease he claimed as caused by defoliant testified that during his stay in Okinawa as a serviceman, he had engaged in filling up drums with defoliant, transported those drums, and scattered defoliant in the training area and the roadside around the area to remove weeds there.
The Japan Peace Committee on July 9 issued a statement demanding that the government conduct independent fact-finding investigations.
The statement stated, “The newly revealed fact shows that U.S. bases in Okinawa were used as storage sites to conduct the atrocious and unlawful operations using Agent Orange in Vietnam.”
Pointing out that in the Northern Training Area, there are four dams that supply 60 percent of Okinawan drinking water, the statement stressed that the existence of Agent Orange in the area is a grave problem affecting Okinawans’ lives. It further demanded that the government request the U.S. to make public all related data.
Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Akamine Seiken on July 10 visited the Foreign Ministry Okinawa Office and the Naha Defense Facilities Administration Bureau, urging them to investigate the past use of Agent Orange in Okinawa. - Akahata, July 11, 2007
A U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs document obtained by Guam parliamentarians reportedly stated that a U.S. veteran who sought compensation for his disease he claimed as caused by defoliant testified that during his stay in Okinawa as a serviceman, he had engaged in filling up drums with defoliant, transported those drums, and scattered defoliant in the training area and the roadside around the area to remove weeds there.
The Japan Peace Committee on July 9 issued a statement demanding that the government conduct independent fact-finding investigations.
The statement stated, “The newly revealed fact shows that U.S. bases in Okinawa were used as storage sites to conduct the atrocious and unlawful operations using Agent Orange in Vietnam.”
Pointing out that in the Northern Training Area, there are four dams that supply 60 percent of Okinawan drinking water, the statement stressed that the existence of Agent Orange in the area is a grave problem affecting Okinawans’ lives. It further demanded that the government request the U.S. to make public all related data.
Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Akamine Seiken on July 10 visited the Foreign Ministry Okinawa Office and the Naha Defense Facilities Administration Bureau, urging them to investigate the past use of Agent Orange in Okinawa. - Akahata, July 11, 2007
