In Okinawa, SOFA has worn out its welcome. Washington and Kasumigaseki may wish to consider that it has also outlived its usefulness, at least in its current form
Jake Adelstein in The Daily Beast:
Onaga has claimed that U.S. military, contractors, and their families covered under the Status of Forces Agreement have committed 5,896 crimes since 1972. What he doesn’t point out is that government figures show Okinawa’s populace has a crime rate more than twice as high over the same period—69.7 crimes per 10,000 people, compared with 27.4 by SOFA members. The Okinawa Prefecture Police will not release statistics allowing for specific crime comparisons, further obscuring the matter.
But the problem, at its core, is not just about U.S. personnel and their actions. The current opposition to the U.S. in Okinawa is bolstered by the fact that the majority of Okinawans also dislike the Cabinet of the U.S.-leaning, militaristic Prime Minister Abe—and still harbor lingering distrust for mainland Japan. They feel that Okinawa remains, as it has been since 1879, when annexed by Japan, a political pawn in world politics and military strategy.
Yukito Oyama, Ryukyu Shimpo:
Amid growing protests in the wake of the suspected murder of an Okinawan woman allegedly by a U.S. military civilian base worker, who is a former marine, the candidates who oppose the U.S. military presence in Okinawa gained support from voters.
However, the “All Okinawa” coalition will need to reunite after candidates competed against each other, waving their own political party flags. Two candidates belonging to Shimpu-kai, a conservative group in the Naha city council, which gave rise to the Onaga administration and has become something of a symbol of the “All Okinawa” movement, lost seats. Their loss may create ill feeling in the organization.
The number of seats gained by the opposition party was 15, including 14 seats won by the LDP and one by a conservative independent.
Doug Bandow, Forbes:
... Despite Japan’s dramatic recovery, the U.S. remained responsible for that country’s defense. In return, Japan’s duty only was to be defended by America. At the time the status quo satisfied most everyone, including Tokyo’s neighbors. Marine Corps Gen. Henry Stackpole famously explained that U.S. troops were the “cap in the bottle” to stop Japanese remilitarization. Decades later this arrangement has lost its raison d’etre.
Washington currently maintains 85 military bases and some 53,000 troops in Japan (plus 43,000 dependents and 5,000 civilian workers). Roughly 40 percent of those facilities, half the people, and three-quarters of the base area are located on Okinawa, with just .6 percent of Japan’s land mass, in the southernmost and poorest prefecture. About a fifth of the island is under U.S. control: Homes abut runways, prime beaches are off-limits to Okinawans, and island life is dramatically inconvenienced.
Nevertheless, there is little political will for change. U.S. officials desire that America remain the region’s “essential power,” despite Japan’s ability to take over its own defense, and retain advanced bases in the Asia-Pacific. Tokyo wants to rely on America’s security guarantee, despite Japan’s great military potential, while incurring the least political inconvenience from hosting U.S. forces. Both governments benefit from ignoring Okinawa’s complaints and filling the island with American military facilities and largely young, male service personnel.
What could possibly go wrong?
Editorial, Asahi Shimbun:
Onaga suffered a political setback in the Ginowan mayoral election in January, when the candidate backed by Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party defeated an opponent endorsed by the governor.
But voters in Okinawa clearly expressed their opposition to the relocation plan in three elections in 2014--the Nago mayoral election, the Okinawa gubernatorial election and the Lower House election. The results of the latest election reconfirmed public opposition to the plan in the prefecture.
Both the Japanese and U.S. governments should take the voice of voters seriously and seize this opportunity to reconsider their rigid stance toward the issue. Tokyo and Washington have stubbornly refused to change their official position that building a new base in Henoko to replace Futenma is the only option.
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