Okada says U.S. troop burden on Okinawa needs easing

Thursday 08th October, 05:26 AM JST

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12 Comments

Badsey at 07:18 AM JST - 8th October

=The People of Okinawa have "suffered" enough.
societymike at 08:22 AM JST - 8th October

..please.. the people of Okinawa are hardly "suffering". I know, I'm one of them. Most either don't care or accept the military presence because of economic benefits. The vast majority of "complaints" about most of the issues come from mainland communist groups. The "airfield" issue however is different. Everyone has been trying to close it, including the Military, but the endless circle of Tokyo politics keeps the issue going no where.
BrightEyes at 09:57 AM JST - 8th October

Time for the US to pull out. Japan needs to man up a bit. It has been relying on US protection for too long and doesn't have the guts to do what it needs to do to defend itself. The US should pull out while Japan will still be upset about that. No need to wait around for a few more decades while the country slowly makes its peace with its former victims and then pretends that the US presence has long been some sort of imperialist venture. Leave now. They'll positively freak out. Then they'll miss us. Then they'll deal with it. Then they'll thank us.

Of course, we could always stay around a little longer if they begged.
dracpoo2 at 10:28 AM JST - 8th October

Could someone enlighten me as to what the 'suffering' entails....it couldnt be just noise!! not much mention was made of the suffering.
YuriOtani at 12:03 PM JST - 8th October

BrightEyes, Japan can defend herself and a few less bases on Okinawa will not make a difference. In fact the American bases are for support and training and not for defense. Oh about begging I would rather beg before the feet of a pig before...... dracpoo2, it is the Americans themselves. True the vast majority are decedent enough people but the few cause a lot of problems. Raping, stealing, robbing (stores and taxis) and it is not just the troops but their dependents. After these "children" are caught the Americans expect to have them handed over to escape local justice. It is this aspect that Americans are above Japanese law that is troubling. They make debts in town and then PCS out to leave the business owner in a bind. Our new government realizes the true burden of the American bases. It is the Americans that will not bend thinking themselves better than Japanese.
alphawolf at 12:59 PM JST - 8th October

brighteyes... I am sure Obama will jump at any chance to downsize the military anywhere and everywhere..

aw
TheMarion at 03:12 PM JST - 8th October

Every American Military family should Immediately be returned to the United States from all over the world. In the end it will be us that can relax and know that at last we are home WHERE WE BELONG............
PepinGalarga at 04:44 PM JST - 8th October

if the US bases would close in Okinawa, the economy there would collapse overnight. They cant rely only on tourism.
apecNetworks at 05:33 PM JST - 8th October

If Prof. Chalmers Johnson's three part books is even close to the actual situation, major jolts pertaining to bases in Japan will be affected. It will be an economic phenomena, not a military one. I can sense it here.
Badsey at 01:55 AM JST - 9th October

=The people of Okinawa have "suffered" enough. (repeat)

-Note: This includes "all" the people of Okiniwa. Note: This includes all military service personel on the island =We appreciate your "suffering" and thank you for it. You have done a good job suffering for the whole of Japan, now the others must suffer thru this typhoon =We must all share in the "suffering"
flatearther at 03:00 AM JST - 9th October

@Brighteyes- I agreed with you up until the bit about begging. Whether they want us back or not, I don't WANT to come back. I'm stuck in Tokyo rt now, been here about a year and hate it. If it's this bad here, I can't imagine how much being in Okie sucks. For the record, I know Japanese and I am learning Kanji, don't date the J-girls, certainly don't rape them, etc. and yet I am still treated like an imperialist pig. The sooner we leave, the better. It's what they want, and let them have it, IMO.
TheMarion at 05:53 AM JST - 9th October

The burden on the Okinawan people comes not from the U.S. Military, it is from the Japanese who actually lost the Ryukyu Islands back in the later half of the forties> Have been working in behalf of the Ryukyuans for the past 59 years and my biggest threat came fron the Japanese. I trained over four thousand Okinawans when I built a textile industry on Okinawa under the supervision of Shannon B.B. McCune the Civil Administrator, only to have my efforts destroyed by the Japanese. I say we have been out there lon enough and we should all come home. Frankly, I am happy with what the Russians are doing to the North and I consider my effort to be a waste of my time, however I am married to a Ryukyuan and I am a member of five of the largest familes on Okinawa.