The news about noxious chemicals discarded carelessly by US military installations in Okinawa gets worse and worse. Uncle Sam's ears are about to get boxed good and proper, because now it isn't just the Okinawan housewives who are angry. Mothers of military dependents attending school on the US bases are seeing red, too--in the form of dioxin contaminating the land where there children go to school.
Here's what The Japan Times onlines reports. (for the full story, go to The Japan Times online)
Kadena moms demand truth
by Jon Mitchell
Special To The Japan Times
Jan 21, 2014
Six months ago, dangerous levels of dioxin were discovered near two U.S. Department of Defense schools on Okinawa Island — but only now are many service members based there learning the full extent of the contamination.
Parents whose children attend the potentially poisoned facilities at Kadena Air Base claim the Pentagon has failed to inform them of the risks or investigate whether the pollution extends onto the school ground. Many are accusing the military authorities of endangering their children’s health and now they have formed a group to demand answers.
The focus of parents’ fears are the playing fields of Bob Hope Primary School and Amelia Earhart Intermediate School, facilities operated by the Department of Defense for the children of U.S. service members.
Last June, construction workers unearthed more than 20 chemical barrels on civilian land bordering the schools.
Following tests the following month, the barrels were found to contain high concentrations of dioxin, a substance that can cause cancer, immune system damage and developmental problems in children. In nearby soil, dioxin levels measured 8.4 times the legal limit, while water peaked at 280 times the level considered safe. The land had once belonged to the adjacent air base but was returned to civilian use in 1987
ラベル US military presence in Okinawa の投稿を表示しています。 すべての投稿を表示
ラベル US military presence in Okinawa の投稿を表示しています。 すべての投稿を表示
2014年1月22日水曜日
2013年5月17日金曜日
Here's sand in your eye?
When a public figure as canny as Osaka's former mayor says something so totally removed from common sense as what Toru Hashimoto has said about the "needs" of military men, past and present, one has to ask why? It's like a street fighter throwing a handful of sand in his opponents' eyes to keep them busy while he gets his dirty work done.
What are we being distracted from seeing? Could it be that, all over the world, there are military people in places where they do not belong? Could it be that, all over the world, there are women being treated as conveniences rather than as human beings?
Look around. What are we not seeing when we are distracted by outrageous words?
What are we being distracted from seeing? Could it be that, all over the world, there are military people in places where they do not belong? Could it be that, all over the world, there are women being treated as conveniences rather than as human beings?
Look around. What are we not seeing when we are distracted by outrageous words?
2013年5月16日木曜日
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
I am not going to dignify the ultra-rightist Ishin Kai's Mr. Hashimoto's remarks about soldiers and women by repeating them here. The point is, he is clueless about the basic issue: these military men (no mention of women in the military in the ultra-rightist lexicon) with their "unmet needs" should be home in their own countries, with their own friends and families, meeting their "needs" in socially-acceptable ways. They do not belong in Okinawa.
It's the 21st century, well past the age of colonizing foreign lands. It's time for foreign military personnel to wake up and smell the coffee--in their own homeland.
It's the 21st century, well past the age of colonizing foreign lands. It's time for foreign military personnel to wake up and smell the coffee--in their own homeland.
2013年4月26日金曜日
A Strange Thing to Say in Someone Else's Country
Isn't this a strange thing to say in the Japanese prefecture most dedicated to peace, in a country for which dialogue and win-win negotiations have traditionally triumphed over military bluster?
Japan learned a bitter, bitter lesson about military bluster some 60 years ago, while the American side hasn't seemed to learn a thing from Viet Nam, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, etc. Instead of macho pep talks, maybe it is time for the US side to use the eyes and ears (of which there are two each) instead of the lone and ever-ready mouth.
It seems the US military is very much out of step with what most people in this part of the world are aiming for. When people really want peace, then peace is what they prepare for. Peaceful trade and tourism that includes China and Korea is what Okinawa lives by.
(for the full article, go to The Japan Times online)
Here's what the news says:
U.S. not backing down, Dempsey tells troops at Yokota
AP
Apr 26, 2013
America’s top military officer told U.S. troops based in Japan on Thursday that “the best way to avoid war is to prepare for it.”
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, made the comments at Yokota Air Base amid heightened tensions in the region after repeated threats from North Korea.
In response, the U.S. has deployed an antiballistic missile battery to Guam, while the Japanese government has deployed Aegis-equipped cruisers and land-based missile interceptors around Tokyo.
While there has been a lull in rising hostility between the two Koreas in the past few days, prospects for dialogue dimmed after North Korea demanded the lifting of U.N. sanctions and the end of U.S.-South Korea military drills as conditions for resuming long-suspended talks aimed at defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
But Dempsey said the U.S. would continue military exercises with its allies.
“We’ll continue to do whatever exercises we need to do to make sure we have the right command and control, the right skills, the right collaboration, interoperability with our allies in the region in the event that there is a miscalculation,” he told the military personnel during the visit, his first to Japan since assuming his post in 2011.
Japan learned a bitter, bitter lesson about military bluster some 60 years ago, while the American side hasn't seemed to learn a thing from Viet Nam, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, etc. Instead of macho pep talks, maybe it is time for the US side to use the eyes and ears (of which there are two each) instead of the lone and ever-ready mouth.
It seems the US military is very much out of step with what most people in this part of the world are aiming for. When people really want peace, then peace is what they prepare for. Peaceful trade and tourism that includes China and Korea is what Okinawa lives by.
(for the full article, go to The Japan Times online)
Here's what the news says:
U.S. not backing down, Dempsey tells troops at Yokota
AP
Apr 26, 2013
America’s top military officer told U.S. troops based in Japan on Thursday that “the best way to avoid war is to prepare for it.”
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, made the comments at Yokota Air Base amid heightened tensions in the region after repeated threats from North Korea.
In response, the U.S. has deployed an antiballistic missile battery to Guam, while the Japanese government has deployed Aegis-equipped cruisers and land-based missile interceptors around Tokyo.
While there has been a lull in rising hostility between the two Koreas in the past few days, prospects for dialogue dimmed after North Korea demanded the lifting of U.N. sanctions and the end of U.S.-South Korea military drills as conditions for resuming long-suspended talks aimed at defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
But Dempsey said the U.S. would continue military exercises with its allies.
“We’ll continue to do whatever exercises we need to do to make sure we have the right command and control, the right skills, the right collaboration, interoperability with our allies in the region in the event that there is a miscalculation,” he told the military personnel during the visit, his first to Japan since assuming his post in 2011.
2013年4月6日土曜日
Always Read the Fine Print
Isn't the act of inserting conditions like "replacements within the prefecture" against the spirit of returning what was supposedly only borrowed? Isn't it a kind of de-facto acknowledgement that neither government has any intention of replying sincerely to the Okinawan people?
Here is the story of the "return" of Okinawan territory loaned to the US as reported by The Japan Times online:
Okinawa U.S. land return plan inked
Reversion of five sites south of Kadena to require replacements
by Mizuho Aoki and Reiji Yoshida
Staff Writers
Apr 5, 2013
Tokyo and Washington agreed Friday on a road map for the reversion of five U.S. military sites in Okinawa, pledging to accelerate the handover of Camp Zukeran, the Makiminato Service Area, Camp Kuwae, the army port in Naha and Kuwae Tank Farm No. 1.
The two sides also assented to transfer the operations, in fiscal 2022 or later, of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the heavily populated city of Ginowan to an airstrip to be built in the Henoko coastal area in the city of Nago, farther north on Okinawa Island, once the replacement site is operational.
By showing Okinawans concrete schedules and plans for the return and redevelopment of the five sites, all situated south of U.S. Kadena Air Base, the central government apparently hopes to resurrect the plan to replace the Futenma base within the prefecture, a move already stymied for 17 years by local opposition.
“We were able to reach an agreement on plans to return (facilities and land now used by the U.S. military) south of the Kadena Air Base. It was (an) extremely meaningful (agreement) to lessen the burden on Okinawa,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, adding the accord demonstrates to the world that the mutual trust between Japan and the U.S. is on solid ground amid an “increasingly severe national security environment.”
According to the plan, however, four of the five complexes will be returned only after alternative sites are secured within existing U.S. military facilities in Okinawa or a large number of the U.S. Marines in the prefecture are redeployed overseas.
Here is the story of the "return" of Okinawan territory loaned to the US as reported by The Japan Times online:
Okinawa U.S. land return plan inked
Reversion of five sites south of Kadena to require replacements
by Mizuho Aoki and Reiji Yoshida
Staff Writers
Apr 5, 2013
Tokyo and Washington agreed Friday on a road map for the reversion of five U.S. military sites in Okinawa, pledging to accelerate the handover of Camp Zukeran, the Makiminato Service Area, Camp Kuwae, the army port in Naha and Kuwae Tank Farm No. 1.
The two sides also assented to transfer the operations, in fiscal 2022 or later, of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the heavily populated city of Ginowan to an airstrip to be built in the Henoko coastal area in the city of Nago, farther north on Okinawa Island, once the replacement site is operational.
By showing Okinawans concrete schedules and plans for the return and redevelopment of the five sites, all situated south of U.S. Kadena Air Base, the central government apparently hopes to resurrect the plan to replace the Futenma base within the prefecture, a move already stymied for 17 years by local opposition.
“We were able to reach an agreement on plans to return (facilities and land now used by the U.S. military) south of the Kadena Air Base. It was (an) extremely meaningful (agreement) to lessen the burden on Okinawa,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, adding the accord demonstrates to the world that the mutual trust between Japan and the U.S. is on solid ground amid an “increasingly severe national security environment.”
According to the plan, however, four of the five complexes will be returned only after alternative sites are secured within existing U.S. military facilities in Okinawa or a large number of the U.S. Marines in the prefecture are redeployed overseas.
2012年9月21日金曜日
How would you feel?
A reckless driver impulsively tries to pass another vehicle on a narrow road, veering into the opposite lane and killing the teenage driver whose car he smashes into. One stupid move by an impatient 25-year-old vs one life ended for an innocent 19-year-old.
What happens next?
In the old days (last year), the 25-year-old guilty driver would be spirited away by his very powerful employer--the US armed forces--leaving the family of the 19-year-old with nothing but their grief. This time, the guilty driver had to go to court, where it was decided that the life of the boy--whose life was abruptly terminated at age 19--was worth 18 months of the other guy's time. That's all??? The guilty man argued that 18 months out of his life was too much to spend.
This is the first time ever to see even a slight nod to the civil rights of the Okinawan people whose land has been taken over by foreign armed forces.
(There is a longer story about this in The Japan Times Online)
Friday, Sep. 21, 2012
Civilian U.S. base worker loses appeal in fatal Okinawa hit-and-run
AFP-Jiji
The Fukuoka High Court on Thursday upheld the prison term of an American who was working for the U.S. Air Force during a fatal car crash that killed a teenager in Okinawa, marking the first time a domestic court has incarcerated a U.S. civilian base employee.
What happens next?
In the old days (last year), the 25-year-old guilty driver would be spirited away by his very powerful employer--the US armed forces--leaving the family of the 19-year-old with nothing but their grief. This time, the guilty driver had to go to court, where it was decided that the life of the boy--whose life was abruptly terminated at age 19--was worth 18 months of the other guy's time. That's all??? The guilty man argued that 18 months out of his life was too much to spend.
This is the first time ever to see even a slight nod to the civil rights of the Okinawan people whose land has been taken over by foreign armed forces.
(There is a longer story about this in The Japan Times Online)
Friday, Sep. 21, 2012
Civilian U.S. base worker loses appeal in fatal Okinawa hit-and-run
AFP-Jiji
The Fukuoka High Court on Thursday upheld the prison term of an American who was working for the U.S. Air Force during a fatal car crash that killed a teenager in Okinawa, marking the first time a domestic court has incarcerated a U.S. civilian base employee.
2011年8月21日日曜日
C'mon, guys, let's have some truth
Just because the documents are gone doesn't mean the poison is gone. Reality is not so simplistic. Here's what The Japan Times reports about the US response to their own soldiers' claims about Agent Orange:
The Pentagon has once again denied allegations that the U.S. military buried the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange in Okinawa, the Foreign Ministry said.
"The U.S. Department of Defense said that it once again reviewed past records and found no documents confirming that the U.S. military stored or used defoliant in Okinawa before its reversion" to Japan, the ministry said in a statement late Friday.
So, if the documents went away, does that mean the soldiers' health issues will also go away? I don't think so. Do you?
PS: And what about the innocent kids who are growing up with that stuff in their environment?
The Pentagon has once again denied allegations that the U.S. military buried the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange in Okinawa, the Foreign Ministry said.
"The U.S. Department of Defense said that it once again reviewed past records and found no documents confirming that the U.S. military stored or used defoliant in Okinawa before its reversion" to Japan, the ministry said in a statement late Friday.
So, if the documents went away, does that mean the soldiers' health issues will also go away? I don't think so. Do you?
PS: And what about the innocent kids who are growing up with that stuff in their environment?
2011年8月13日土曜日
Time to Come Clean
Literally. People are dying from this stuff. Men who gave the best years of their life to their country's service are being denied the care they need to end those lives with decent care.
This is what the Japan Times reports about US use and storage of the abominable Agent Orange on Okinawa:
Agent Orange buried on Okinawa, vet says
Ex-serviceman claims U.S. used, dumped Vietnam War defoliant
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
"In the late 1960s, the U.S. military buried dozens of barrels of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in an area around the town of Chatan on Okinawa Island, an American veteran has told The Japan Times.
The former serviceman's claim comes only days after Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said that he would ask the U.S. Department of Defense to come clean on its use of the chemical on the island during its 27-year occupation of Okinawa between 1945 and 1972. The U.S. government has repeatedly maintained that it has no records pertaining to the use of Agent Orange in Okinawa."
No records? How about the actual substance, which is still there. How about the after effects, which are still causing death and maiming?
With the right information, this problem could be cleaned up. Couldn't it?
This is what the Japan Times reports about US use and storage of the abominable Agent Orange on Okinawa:
Agent Orange buried on Okinawa, vet says
Ex-serviceman claims U.S. used, dumped Vietnam War defoliant
By JON MITCHELL
Special to The Japan Times
"In the late 1960s, the U.S. military buried dozens of barrels of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in an area around the town of Chatan on Okinawa Island, an American veteran has told The Japan Times.
The former serviceman's claim comes only days after Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said that he would ask the U.S. Department of Defense to come clean on its use of the chemical on the island during its 27-year occupation of Okinawa between 1945 and 1972. The U.S. government has repeatedly maintained that it has no records pertaining to the use of Agent Orange in Okinawa."
No records? How about the actual substance, which is still there. How about the after effects, which are still causing death and maiming?
With the right information, this problem could be cleaned up. Couldn't it?
2010年4月26日月曜日
How Unanimous is Unanimous?
Very unanimous!
This is what happened in the weekend rally against the US bases in Okinawa:
"All of the major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, saw themselves being represented for the first time at an antibase rally in Okinawa."
This is what happened in the weekend rally against the US bases in Okinawa:
"All of the major political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party, saw themselves being represented for the first time at an antibase rally in Okinawa."
2010年4月20日火曜日
No Rainbows Here
When something is a good thing, everyone wants it, right? Okinawa doesn't want it, Guam doesn't want it, and now Tokunoshima says it doesn't want it, either. The "it" is a US military installation.
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
Over the weekend, 15,000 people--out of a total population of 25,000--protested the plan to spoil a beautiful environment by paving it over, polluting the sea, and bringing in noisy helicopters and military personnel who have proven their contempt for their host culture in Japan over and over again through off duty crimes ranging from rape, robbery, drunken driving that includes fatal hit and run accidents, to murder. This is not to say all the personnel are evil, but even one murderer is one too many to invite into your neighborhood.
If having this US military base were a good thing, Guam--a US protectorate--would want it. But they, too, have said no. As one US legislator put it in a very colorful metaphor, adding so many strangers to a small island like Guam might "unbalance it and tip it over".
Okinawa island agrees. So does Tokunoshima island. Your neighborhood would probably reject the proposal, too.
Isn't it time to rethink the very concept of overseas military installations?
2009年11月21日土曜日
Another Fine Mess
The serviceman who killed the pedestrian in Yomitan now realizes that the blood all over his wrecked car came from a human being, not a tree. He is willing to apologize to the dead man's family. Great. But not as great as giving the man back to the people who were counting on him.
What would be even greater is if the US would apologize to the serviceman for sending him to a place like Yomitan in the first place. He doesn't belong there. He belongs in his own home town with people who speak his language.
It is too late to return the Okinawan man to his family, but not to late to return the 27 year old serviceman to his.
Just do it.
What would be even greater is if the US would apologize to the serviceman for sending him to a place like Yomitan in the first place. He doesn't belong there. He belongs in his own home town with people who speak his language.
It is too late to return the Okinawan man to his family, but not to late to return the 27 year old serviceman to his.
Just do it.
2009年11月13日金曜日
He's Here!
Mr. Obama arrived in Tokyo to much fanfare. It was a rare treat to see a Japanese prime minister speaking to an American president in English. It was an equally rare treat--something we haven't seen in about eight years--to see an American president speaking real English.
Let us hope that genuine communication ensues.
PS: About the same time Mr. Obama was thanking the troops for their "contribution" in Okinawa, a US GI was arrested for killing an Okinawa resident in a hit and run accident. The GI said he couldn't understand what the arresting officer was saying. Was there something about the evil of killing a pedestrian and running away that needed to be explained?
Let us hope that genuine communication ensues.
PS: About the same time Mr. Obama was thanking the troops for their "contribution" in Okinawa, a US GI was arrested for killing an Okinawa resident in a hit and run accident. The GI said he couldn't understand what the arresting officer was saying. Was there something about the evil of killing a pedestrian and running away that needed to be explained?
2009年11月12日木曜日
Okinawa vs New Jersey
Tomorrow US President Obama will meet in Tokyo with the new Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Hatoyama. The US air base at Futenma, in Okinawa, is one of the topics on the agenda. The base occupies the largest part of a congested city, and it is next door to a major university.
Not so long ago, a Futenma-bound US helicopter crashed and burned on that university campus, spewing radioactive material helter skelter. That was not nice. No one wants a burning helicopter on their lawn, especially one whose ashes can kill.
Okinawa--the island with all the US bases--is smaller than the US state NJ. If you have 2 hours, you can drive the length of it taking time out for lunch and a little sightseeing. There are sixteen (16!) US military installations on Okinawa. How many similar-sized US bases are in NJ?
(two: Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth)
Not so long ago, a Futenma-bound US helicopter crashed and burned on that university campus, spewing radioactive material helter skelter. That was not nice. No one wants a burning helicopter on their lawn, especially one whose ashes can kill.
Okinawa--the island with all the US bases--is smaller than the US state NJ. If you have 2 hours, you can drive the length of it taking time out for lunch and a little sightseeing. There are sixteen (16!) US military installations on Okinawa. How many similar-sized US bases are in NJ?
(two: Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth)
2007年12月18日火曜日
Not always a paradise
When I did my research for Japan's Road to Popular Empowerment, I was surprised by the number of civilians in Okinawa who have to die because of accidents caused by the US military.
The Pacific War, in which one third (I put that it words so no one would think I mistyped the number 1/3) of the population of Okinawa was killed, ended in 1945. The official US occupation of this Japanese prefecture ended in 1972. One Okinawa city (Ginowan) still has to host five US military installations. There are more throughout the prefecture, including a deep water harbor off Katsuren----the site of my novel.
I have been to Katsuren many times, and never noticed the US base because it is farther out along the peninsula, some distance from Katsuren Castle. I probably never would have been aware of its presence, until it made the papers.
A US military vehicle--without so much as an "excuse me can we use your property for a sec"-- drove through the playground of a school for the handicapped in Katsuren. Luckily, no one was hurt. No one was hurt, either, when a US helicopter fell out of the sky and crashed and burned against the wall of an Okinawa university building, either.
Luck! Sometimes it works.
It didn't work for the nine year old girl who died in the garden of her family's home when a jeep that was being airlifted went astray and fell on her.
There's more, so much more.
More than five US bases in a single, peaceful foreign city sounds like a very expensive proposition. I certainly wouldn't spend any of my own money on such a project, would you?
Meanwhile, in researching the Koza riots of 1970--triggered when US military police fired guns on the crowd that gathered when an Okinawa civilian was run down and killed by a military vehicle--I found the following position paper by a US reporter who once upon a time was stationed in Okinawa. Interesting point of view.
http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op11.html
The Pacific War, in which one third (I put that it words so no one would think I mistyped the number 1/3) of the population of Okinawa was killed, ended in 1945. The official US occupation of this Japanese prefecture ended in 1972. One Okinawa city (Ginowan) still has to host five US military installations. There are more throughout the prefecture, including a deep water harbor off Katsuren----the site of my novel.
I have been to Katsuren many times, and never noticed the US base because it is farther out along the peninsula, some distance from Katsuren Castle. I probably never would have been aware of its presence, until it made the papers.
A US military vehicle--without so much as an "excuse me can we use your property for a sec"-- drove through the playground of a school for the handicapped in Katsuren. Luckily, no one was hurt. No one was hurt, either, when a US helicopter fell out of the sky and crashed and burned against the wall of an Okinawa university building, either.
Luck! Sometimes it works.
It didn't work for the nine year old girl who died in the garden of her family's home when a jeep that was being airlifted went astray and fell on her.
There's more, so much more.
More than five US bases in a single, peaceful foreign city sounds like a very expensive proposition. I certainly wouldn't spend any of my own money on such a project, would you?
Meanwhile, in researching the Koza riots of 1970--triggered when US military police fired guns on the crowd that gathered when an Okinawa civilian was run down and killed by a military vehicle--I found the following position paper by a US reporter who once upon a time was stationed in Okinawa. Interesting point of view.
http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op11.html
登録:
投稿 (Atom)
