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2011 February 2 - 8 [US FORCES]

US Marines deployed in Okinawa in order to take prompt action in Western Pacific region: US documents

The U.S. National Security Council (NSC) deployed U.S. Marines in Okinawa in order to be able to attack anywhere in the Western Pacific on short notice. This was revealed in U.S. government documents published in the 1950s.

The Japanese government under Prime Minister Kan Naoto of the Democratic Party of Japan argues that the U.S. Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa is a deterrence necessary for Japan’s defense. However, U.S. documents reveal that the true aim of placing U.S. Marines in Okinawa was to enable a first strike anywhere within the Asia-Pacific region, not to defend Japan.

On October 21, 1955, a meeting of the sub-committee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee was held at the GHQ headquarters in Tokyo. A document submitted to the meeting states, “The Marine Corps, as a Force in Readiness, has its three divisions of the Fleet Marine Force deployed in areas from which they can move – on the shortest notice - to those trouble spots as the world situation and our national strategy dictates.”

It went on to state, “Okinawa, for obvious reasons due to its strategic location, was selected by the National Security Council as the base for our force-in-readiness in the Far Western Pacific, the 3d Marine Division.”