Japanese form human chain at US base

Japanese form human chain at US base

www.presstv.ir

Thousands of people have formed a human chain around the Futenma airbase on the island of Okinawa to protest the US military presence in Japan

Some 17,000 protesters called on Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Sunday to move the controversial facility out of Okinawa, Kyodo news agency reported.

The rally comes just days ahead of a visit to Japan by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

The relocation of the Futenma airbase is at the center of a dispute between Washington and Tokyo.

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I think it's about time to send our troops back home. Not only will it save us a tremendous amount of money, but it may also ease tensions around the world. People are making it painfully clear that the US and all of her bully policies are not welcome in their countries. This is Japan and not some Middle Eastern nation.

Lets stop policing the world at the tax-payers expense and send our brave soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen home to protect our own country. God only knows that we need to secure our own borders. Lets end this ultra expensive empire that only benefits the special and corporate interests at the expense of the people.

www.presstv.ir
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by airspoon


I completely agree with you. The South Koreans don't want us there. Taiwan is rich enough not to need us there, Europe no longer needs NATO. With the level of stop/loss being imposed on the troops, they should all be brought home immediately.

I recently read that the Prime Minister renewed the lease for the base. Not sure i would call it bully policies though. We have been leasing the base for years. I would agree that there is'nt much use for our troops being there anymore. As for Taiwan, I did'nt know we even had troops there just an agreement to defend it in case of a Chinese invasion. I'll have to look into that. Good thread

reply to post by dolphinfan


Right, not only the man-power but think of the money that we would save as well. At a time when we are choosing which programs to cut from our childrens' schools, I don't think we have enough money to keep this "corporate empire" up that has absolutely no benefit to the American people.

--airspoon

Im sick of this too, if they don't want us there we should leave. We're not really that horrible, we can help a lot when you need it so if they dont want us hanging around we should go. Then, if the need for our help ever arises we should just stay out of their way.

reply to post by airspoon


The US will not leave because that postition has far too much strategic value to give up. Also, Japan was just making noises the other day about their worry over China's navy build up and the possible consequences of it. If the US leaves there would be no one to stop China from taking over the region so it makes no sense to tell the US to go home when they are the only thing keeping China in check.

If you anything about China and Japans history together, you will know there is no love and much hate between the two. I wouldn't tell the friendly giant to go home when there is a angry giant on the doorstep just waiting for that to happen.

Well the cold war is over so America really doesn't need to be there to fight it from a closer front. Japan already has Land, air and sea forces for protection so America isn't really needed to protect Japan at this point. So what is the purpose of us [America] being over there? There doesn't seem to be a lot of numbers for them, but at the same time they aren't really expecting an attack.

The Self Defense Force's purpose is to preserve peace, public order and Japan's independence and safety. About 6% of the national budget is spent on national defense (2005). Military service is voluntary. The force has about 250,000 members. Supreme commander is the Prime Minister.

www.japan-guide.com...

So I must ask what is the purpose for us being there now? I may have missed something, that happened that called for America to be there but I'm not sure. Even in my Japanese History and Culture class I couldn't decipher a reason in the midst of class, though I did figure out the whys' of the past, but what of the whys' of now?

reply to post by Gigantea Rosa

TOKYO—Japan's foreign minister expressed concern about China's growing military muscle—a development he said raised the urgency for Washington and Tokyo to resolve their standoff over where to station U.S. troops in Japan.

"I wouldn't use the word 'threat'—but we certainly will need to watch very carefully the nuclear arsenal and naval capabilities of China," Katsuya Okada said in an interview Thursday with The Wall Street Journal. "And it is because of this that, all the more, the Japan-U.S. alliance would be important."

Source

Like I said, it makes no sense to tell your allies to go home when you have already said the alliance is "all the more" important now because of China's build up.

[edit on 16-5-2010 by FreeSpeaker]

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


China is not going to attack Japan and even if they were, it should not be our responsibility to protect Japan. Sure we should hold true to our alliance maybe but we should not be the sole protector of Japan. Maybe they should spend more on their defense budget instead of America having to shoulder that burden. Why should my labor/life be used to pay for their defense?

But again, China may try to politically influence Japan but they are nowhere close to invading the Islands. China has a good thing going with the west and it is going to make them THE super-power one day. They would be stupid to invade Japan unprovoked.

--airspoon

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


Interesting...So then what is this about the protest? I'm sorry, but all of this isn't adding up at this point at least to me. Also as I type this I read airspoon's message just as well, and kind of agree with him in a way here and there but not all of it. Like it is our responsibility to protect Japan due to our agreement and what happened.

Why would China invade or even drop a bomb on Japan though? It doesn't seem like they will and if so they would have done it by now [at least in my opinion]. Then again I'm just catching up on news as of late after getting out of school. So if I seem really slow sorry, just trying to play catch up on events.

reply to post by dolphinfan

The South Koreans don't want us there

Really??? I thought recent military drills and N.Korea's recent provocations stressed the need for US troops to remain there as a deterrent to the North against invading.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


I know the history and who cares? Face it, if the Chinese put their entire navy in the Strait of Taiwan, the US would go to the US Security Council and kick off a bunch of meetings that is about it. The Chinese can dump US debt and that is far worse for the US than anything the Chinese can do to Taiwan.

Ok, so they hate each other. I've spent a lot of time in Japan. The Japanese hate the Chinese, Koreans and SouthEast Asians as well. Thats their problem, not ours.

I'm no fan of Obama, but if he ended this nonsense in Afganistan and brought the troops home from around the world he would get my vote. He'd win in a landslide. The only folks who are into this game (and thats what it is) are the local governments that get huge tax reciepts from US troops and the leases of this facility, the US politicians who are getting spiffed from the multinationals who have a vested interest in keeping this forward presence and the military who like the budget dollars.

Everybody was pounding about closing Subic Bay a while back as well, saying that SouthEast Asia would essentially blow up. It has not happened.

When you have cruise missles that reach the globe and nukes that can sit on submarines and you actually have the stones to use them you don't need forward troops. Go ahead and come out with a non-symetrical military policy and pull the troops home. Why the hell are we spending $billions for technology that creates the ability to strike a target from thousands of miles away and not have an impact on the number of troops we have in the field?

Originally posted by airspoon
reply to post by FreeSpeaker

 

China is not going to attack Japan and even if they were, it should not be our responsibility to protect Japan. Sure we should hold true to our alliance maybe but we should not be the sole protector of Japan. Maybe they should spend more on their defense budget instead of America having to shoulder that burden. Why should my labor/life be used to pay for their defense?

I have no argument with this because I agree with you. The fact is however that this is how the US does business and how it keeps its allies in their pocket.

Originally posted by airspoon
But again, China may try to politically influence Japan but they are nowhere close to invading the Islands. China has a good thing going with the west and it is going to make them THE super-power one day. They would be stupid to invade Japan unprovoked.

--airspoon

China would never even have to invade the island, simply block it off from assistance and supplies and wait for the collapse of civil services and the government. Then when all is chaos and disorder walk on in and take over. Its the same thing as laying seige to a castle, simply starve them out. Thats why Japan fears China's growing navy.

Power abhors a vacuum. If you remove the bases, something must take their place. Such as:

North Korean Bases
Fully-Capable Japanese Bases
Russian Bases
Chinese Bases

Take your pick.

Like it or not, the WWII generation bought the US a world empire with their blood, brains, and guts. Now, you have the burden of maintaining it, or of suffering the consequences if you blink.

Go ahead, Yankee: blink. Come on.

I dare you.

Originally posted by dolphinfan
When you have cruise missles that reach the globe and nukes that can sit on submarines and you actually have the stones to use them you don't need forward troops. Go ahead and come out with a non-symetrical military policy and pull the troops home. Why the hell are we spending $billions for technology that creates the ability to strike a target from thousands of miles away and not have an impact on the number of troops we have in the field?

Where do you think the US military asia-pacific intelligence comes from? The US is in Japan for more reasons than just a military determent. Its not all about force projection but intelligence gathering and Japan is a major hub for the US in the asia-pacific region.

reply to post by Chakotay


I do not think the japs want you there really, and they must be being forced to keep america in the country. Japan could easily make there own weapon systems if they wanted too, and they are rich enough.

It must be sickening for japanese to see americans there after what the yanks did to them all those years ago.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker

China would never even have to invade the island, simply block it off from assistance and supplies and wait for the collapse of civil services and the government. Then when all is chaos and disorder walk on in and take over. Its the same thing as laying siege to a castle, simply starve them out. That's why Japan fears China's growing navy.

So then what would an American base on the Island help? What could America then do that it can't from say, Hawaii? Also, any move such as that would throw turmoil into an already lucrative relationship for China. The Chinese aren't hungry for war, like the US seems to be. China has a very good position in world standing at the moment and they know it. The only thing that they are lacking, is oil reserves/contracts and it sure isn't in Japan. The Chinese knows that it is only a matter of time before the US economy collapses and what's left of the world's oil will be theirs for the picking. They wouldn't spoil that by starting a war of aggression as seems to be popular with the US. Remember, the US seems to be the only super-power that is acting aggressively in the world. Just because the US might act one way, doesn't mean that everyone else behaves the same way.

--airspoon

Originally posted by andy1033
reply to post by Chakotay

 

It must be sickening for japanese to see americans there after what the yanks did to them all those years ago.

Maybe these days thats how they feel but don't forget, Japan attacked the US without a declaration of war during WW2 and ultimatly ended up paying dearly for that mistake. The code of honor that was present in the Japanese culture at that time was amazing and when the Emperor surrendered so did the entire population without complaint. They knew they roled the dice and accepted the consequences of their actions.

reply to post by Chakotay


How about fully capable Japanese bases? Why should our tax-dollars shoulder the burden for their defense? They have enough money to shoulder that burden for themselves. Let the Japanese government tax its citizens instead of American tax-dollars. Don't get me wrong, I love Japan and its people, but that doesn't mean that I can either afford to pay their burdens or even want to.

--airspoon