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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| US to move 9,000 soldiers from Okinawa |
| 2012-04-28 |
| The United States has made a deal with Japan to relocate 9,000 marines away from its southernmost island Okinawa to other locations in Asia-Pacific. The new plan will involve transferring thousands of marines to regions including Guam, Hawaii and Australia, nearly halving the number of US troops in Okinawa to 10,000. The deal, announced in a joint US-Japan statement, was unveiled just days before Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s prime minister, heads to Washington next week to meet with his counterpart President Barack Obama. “I am very pleased that after many years, we have reached this important agreement and plan of action,” Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, said in a statement. “I applaud the hard work and effort that went into crafting it. Japan is not just a close ally, but also a close friend.” Despite the agreement, questions are likely to continue in relation to the controversial relocation of the military base Futenma within Okinawa, an issue expected to be discussed by the two leaders in Washington. The issue has become a key source of tension in recent years in relation to the US-Japan security alliance, regarded as a critical partnership in maintaining regional power balance. The proposed relocation of the base from a populated area to a quieter location is widely opposed by locals, politicians and environmentalists, while Yukio Hatoyama, the former prime minister, resigned over the issue in 2010 after he was unable to keep his electoral promise to shift the base entirely off Okinawa. However, US politicians hope that the new deal in relation to the relocation 9,000 troops away from Okinawa may help break the policy deadlock that has surrounded the region in recent years as a result of opposition to Futenma. “We think it breaks a very long stalemate …. That has plagued our politics, that has clogged both of our systems,” said Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 A 'shell game' with the end-state being troop reductions across the board. Troops are volunteers, generally staunch patriots, and pubs. We don't need people like that any longer. All Star Ship Troopers will be hand picked in the Obomatomorrow. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-04-28 09:19 |
| #5 Tipping point for the Guam economy. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-04-28 09:13 |
| #4 I sure hope Guam does not tip over. |
| Posted by: newc 2012-04-28 09:11 |
| #3 Panetta the DoD hatchet man simply doing his job. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-04-28 08:11 |
| #2 I would sympathize more with the Japanese position on Okinawa if it wasn't for the fact that US troops wouldn't be there at all if Japan had not chosen war as their remedy. In today's context, Japan uses the US as a shield against the Norks and the Chicoms. Would Japan really be better off if the US simply pulled out and took its nuclear shield with it? If not, then put up with some inconvenience and stop whining. |
| Posted by: Mike Ramsey 2012-04-28 08:05 |
| #1 The number of Marines coming to Guam is back up to 5000, up from 4000 + 4700 but below the original 8000+, but AFAIK its not clear iff these 5000 Marines is final vee final Congressional approval, iff these 5000 will be permanently-based on Guam only or Guam-CNMI Tinian], or will 60% [3,500] of same be on "rotational" training or TDY i.e. only 1500 will be locally based. AS INDIC PREVIOLSUY, JAPAN REPOR WOULD LIKE TO BASE + ROTATIONALLY DEPLOY SDF UNITS TO TINIAN FOR TRAINING. A recent Guam-visiting CODEL comprised of Senators McCain, Cark Levin, + Jim Webb has vowed the Marine Relocation includ Guam Buildup will not occur until the US Congress first sees reliable Costs Datas + Analyses. ------------- * ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > USAF DRILLS A PRACTICE FOR MAINLAND CHINA BOMBING RUN? |USAF EXERCISE EYES CHINA AS ADVERSARY. Operation "Chichimanga" LR AIREX. versus * INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > MANTHORPE: JAPAN BOOSTS DEENCES OF OUTER ISLANDS TO DETER CHINA. Big 4 + 100 other islands or islets in East China Sea, POTENTIAL FOR INTENSIVE SINO-NIPPON RIVALRY + ULTIMATELY EVEN MILITARY CONFLICT. * SAME > CHINA DEMANDS EVERYTHING, in South China Sea i.e. disputed Islands + espec resources-rich UW seafloors underneath, around same. * WORLD MIL FORUM > JAPAN PUSHES UN FOR QUICK RECOGNITION OF ITS "SOLE/UNILATERAL" SOVEREIGNTY OVER MORE THAN 310,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS OF UNDERWATER CONTINENTAL SHELF. * SAME > MANY ORDINARY/MAINSTREAM JAPANESE BEGIN SENDING MONETARY DONATIONS TO TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINATARO ISHIHARA IN SUPPORT OF PROPOSED DAOYUS ISLANDS BUYOUT SCHEME, by Tokyo from JAPANESE Owners. Chinese-claimed Daoyus Islands/Daoyutai = Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-04-28 00:49 |