Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 30. januar 2006 / Time Line January 30, 2006
Version 3.529. Janua 2006, 31. Januar 2006
01/30/2006
Okinawa Base Plan for US Forces Boosted by Election
By Masaki Hisane
Prime Minister Junich iro Koizumi's ruling coalition has cleared
one hurdle in its drive for realignment of US military forces in
Japan, as a moderate candidate who is open to the idea won a
mayoral vote in Nago city on the southern island-state of
Okinawa.
Winner Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, 59, was backed by the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner New Komeito, as
well as retiring mayor Tateo Kishimoto. Munehiro Gakiya, 59, was
supported by the biggest opposition - the Democratic Party of
Japan, the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist
Party. Yoshitami Oshiro, 65, is affiliated with a citizens'
movement that is against the relocation of a US air base.
There was more at stake in Sunday's closely watched election than
just the future of the controversial project to build a new US air
station in Nago, a city of some 58,000. The defeat of the
coalition-backed candidate would have cast a pall on the overall
realignment plan for US military forces in Japan. Also, it would
have been a slap in the face for the staunchly pro-US prime
minister and could have set back moves made in recent years by
Tokyo and Washington toward forging a stronger and closer security
alliance.
The Nago mayoral vote came nearly three months after Japan and the
United States signed an interim pact on the realignment of US
military forces in Japan. Tokyo and Washington plan to finalize the
pact in March. In an interim pact, the two countries struck a deal
on the focal point of realignment talks: the long-running dispute
over the relocation of a key US air station to Okinawa. The Nago
mayoral election marked the first time local residents had made
their voices heard on the relocation plan for the US Marine Corps'
Futenma air station. It was also seen as the first referendum held
in a local community on the overall US military realignment
plan.
The three candidates - all municipal assembly members who ran as
independents - oppose the Futenma relocation plan, but their views
differ in detail.
While opposing the new Futenma relocation plan in its current form,
Shimabukuro has indicated he would enter negotiations on the
relocation issue if the plan were revised to be more acceptable for
residents, implying Nago might accept the plan under certain
conditions. His supporters include members of the local business
community, such as the construction industry, who expect that the
relocation would bring more central-government-funded
infrastructure development projects and jobs to the local
community. After winning the vote, Shimabukuro said he wants to sit
down at the negotiating table with the national government if he
can get local citizens' consent.
Meanwhile, Gakiya and Oshiro are steadfast opponents of the
relocation plan.
The national government had kept a close watch on the election
because it is eager to win the local government's cooperation
regarding the relocation and also because the outcome will likely
influence Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine's attitude toward the
plan. Inamine has authority to approve reclamation of publicly
owned coastal waters, which is essential for the Futenma
relocation. Therefore, his cooperation is vital if the government
is to carry out the relocation plan within the current legal
system's framework.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said in a statement: "We take
the [Nago] election results as a recognition of the US military
realignment we have proceeded with. We will continue to proceed
with the realignment plan."
Defense Agency director general Fukushiro Nukaga said in a separate
statement: "We would like to explain [the Futenma relocation plan]
in good faith and hold constructive talks [with the local
government]. We will make our utmost efforts to realize the plan
without further delay."
Will the air base take off?
To be sure, Shimabukuro's victory in the Nago poll was good news
for Koizumi's ruling coalition. Particularly encouraging for the
coalition is that Shimabukuro garnered more votes than the other
two candidates together. But it is too early to conclude that the
air-station project will go smoothly.
The two countries agreed in 1996 that the US would return the US
Marine Corps' Futenma air-station land to Japan "within five to
seven years" on condition that its heliport operations be relocated
within Okinawa prefecture. The Japanese government decided at the
end of 1999 to relocate the base to the waters off the Henoko
district of Nago city. But this original relocation plan ran
aground because of fierce opposition from local citizens.
In the interim pact signed in October, the US accepted Japan's
proposal for the relocation of the Futenma air station, now in a
densely populated area of Ginowan city, southern Okinawa
prefecture, to the coastal area of the marines' Camp Schwab in
Nago, in the prefecture's north. Most local citizens are dead set
against the new relocation plan as well. In mid-December, the
Okinawa prefectural assembly adopted a statement opposing the plan,
stepping up pressure on the Koizumi government. The Futenma
relocation is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
Meanwhile, the US administration is reviewing the role of its bases
in Japan as part of its military's worldwide "transformation". The
US expects Japan to play the role of strategic hub to ensure
stability in an "arc of instability" stretching from Northeast Asia
to the Middle East via Southeast and South Asia.
The realignment plan would include deployment of a US
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time to be based in
Japan, at Yokosuka Naval Base, headquarters of the US 7th Fleet and
Koizumi's home town and constituency near Tokyo.
But the repositioning in Japan is also meant to ease tensions
caused by the US military presence. The US bases 47,000 troops in
Japan, and residents in Okinawa prefecture - where most of the
troops and bases are concentrated - have long complained of crime,
crowding and noise linked to the military. Okinawa is about 1,600
kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The realignment plan calls for
transferring 7,000 marines from Okinawa, 6,000 of them to the US
Pacific territory of Guam.
A survey conducted by a local mainland newspaper last year showed
that 80% of people polled do not approve of the Koizumi
government's Okinawa base plans, while only 14% said they do. Asked
the best way to resolve the Futenma relocation issue, 72% answered
that the air base should be moved to Hawaii, Guam or somewhere else
in the United States.
According to a news report, Nago's city government will propose a
revised plan to the government in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Under the proposal, the military facility would be constructed 800
meters south of where the current plan puts it. The revision is
aimed at reducing a risk of helicopter crashes in residential
areas. Shimabukuro reportedly appears likely to support the revised
plan. Nature conservationists, however, don't support the revised
plan because it entails a larger scale of offshore
construction.
Meanwhile, Takeshi Onaga, mayor of Naha, the Okinawa prefectural
capital, said recently the city will seek an alliance with other
municipalities to gain support for his proposal to have the Futenma
air station relocated to barren Iwojima Island about 1,200km south
of Tokyo. Onaga met with Inamine to explain his proposal. He also
indicated he would try to win support for the proposal from Tokyo
Governor Shintaro Ishihara because Iwojima belongs administratively
to the island-village of Ogasawara, which is part of Tokyo.
It is still unclear how much change to the Futenma relocation plan
would be enough to make the new Nago mayor bend. Koizumi's ruling
coalition is reluctant about making any major modifications to the
plan, a process that would require another round of hectic
negotiations with the US. Also, Washington apparently believes it
is the Japanese government's obligation to carry out the new
relocation plan.
Inamine, a conservative, won the last gubernatorial election by
pledging to promote dialogue with the national government and take
a realistic approach to the US military presence. He accepted the
original Futenma relocation plan on condition that it accommodate
joint military-civilian use and that military use end after 15
years. But he has rejected the new plan. The Nago vote was regarded
by the central government as a trial run or even a decisive
showdown ahead of the next Okinawa gubernatorial election in
November. Inamine has not yet made clear whether he will run for
another term, though speculation is growing that he will not.
For the Futenma relocation to be completed by 2012, as envisaged
under the current plan, the national government cannot afford to
wait until after the Okinawa gubernatorial election before
launching an environmental assessment. While some pundits
optimistically predict that Inamine will have to accept any deal
that might be struck between Nago and the national government on
the Futenma issue, others caution that he might stick to his
demands, including one for joint military-civilian use of the new
facility.
Meanwhile, the Koizumi government is poised to adopt a
carrot-and-stick approach to Okinawa. In a bid to win local support
for the Futenma relocation plan, Koizumi's ruling coalition plans
to draw up a development plan for northern Okinawa, including a
railway system between Naha and Nago, and expansion of Naha
airport. At the same time the Koizumi government is considering
special legislation to transfer power for using public waters from
the prefectural governor to the national government to ensure the
smooth implementation of the Japan-US pact. Current law stipulates
that any organization seeking to fill in public waters at sea or in
rivers and lakes must receive permission from the prefectural
governor.
The Koizumi government is also planning in the current session of
the diet to introduce a set of bills as early as April aimed at
promoting the realignment. The new laws will allow Tokyo to help
defray the estimated cost of several billion dollars to move Marine
Corps personnel to Guam. Tokyo's financial support for construction
of US military facilities abroad, such as command centers,
barracks, housing for service members and their families and
welfare facilities is not enshrined in the current Status of Forces
Agreement. The set of bills would also enable the provision of huge
subsidies to local communities affected by the realignment. The
special legislation to strip the Okinawa governor of the power to
authorize the use of public waters may be included in the
package.
A host of remaining hurdles
In a meeting in Washington with Nukaga last Tuesday, US Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld emphasized that his country wanted to
stick with the current Futenma relocation plan, regardless of the
outcome of Sunday's Nago mayoral vote. The US has made progress on
the Futenma relocation a condition for the realignment of other
facilities and personnel in Okinawa prefecture, including the
planned transfer of 7,000 Marine Corps personnel from there.
To be sure, the Futenma relocation is the focal point of the US
military realignment. But there are many other local communities
outside Okinawa prefecture affected by the realignment. Those local
communities remain strongly opposed to the realignment plan and
have vowed to fight it. The Koizumi government faces the daunting
task of pulling out all stops to sell the realignment plan to them
as well as Okinawa.
The Koizumi government has already begun informally to dangle huge
subsidies in front of local communities hosting US military bases,
including those on Okinawa; it is estimated the subsidies are worth
more than 1 trillion yen (US$8.7 billion) over the next six years.
But many residents of municipalities being asked to host more US
military facilities oppose the realignment plan.
In his meeting with Rumsfeld, Nukaga asked that Washington provide
specific measures to alleviate the burden of Japanese residents in
areas hosting US military bases. "Because it takes time to persuade
local communities [to accept the bases], Japan and the US need to
promptly map out specific measures," Nukaga told Rumsfeld. Nukaga
didn't elaborate on what specific measures he seeks from the United
States.
Despite their efforts, there is growing speculation the two
countries may not be able to sign the final pact by the end of
March as planned, because of slow progress in putting the finishing
touches on the agreement. Regardless of what the October
realignment pact is officially called, there is a basic difference
of perception over the nature of the document. Tokyo regards it as
an interim deal while Washington sees it as final.
To be sure, Tokyo and Washington are moving in the same direction
toward a stronger and closer security alliance, yet it remains
unclear how this realignment plan will work out.
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based journalist, commentator and scholar
on international politics and economy. Masaki's e-mail address is
yiu45535@nifty.com.
This article appeared in Asia Times, January 24, 2006. This
slightly abbreviated version of the original article posted at
Japan Focus on January 24, 2006.
01/30/2006
Military Hides Cause of Women Soldiers' Deaths
By Marjorie Cohn
truthout | Report
In a startling revelation, the former commander of Abu Ghraib
prison testified that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former senior US
military commander in Iraq, gave orders to cover up the cause of
death for some female American soldiers serving in Iraq.
Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the
Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the
Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of
dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day.
They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers
if they had to use the women's latrine after dark.
The latrine for female soldiers at Camp Victory wasn't located near
their barracks, so they had to go outside if they needed to use the
bathroom. "There were no lights near any of their facilities, so
women were doubly easy targets in the dark of the night," Karpinski
told retired US Army Col. David Hackworth in a September 2004
interview. It was there that male soldiers assaulted and raped
women soldiers. So the women took matters into their own hands.
They didn't drink in the late afternoon so they wouldn't have to
urinate at night. They didn't get raped. But some died of
dehydration in the desert heat, Karpinski said.
Karpinski testified that a surgeon for the coalition's joint task
force said in a briefing that "women in fear of getting up in the
hours of darkness to go out to the port-a-lets or the latrines were
not drinking liquids after 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and in 120
degree heat or warmer, because there was no air-conditioning at
most of the facilities, they were dying from dehydration in their
sleep."
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law,
President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US
representative to the executive committee of the American
Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for t r u t h o
u t.
01/30/2006
CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense
Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is being awarded a
$1,108,787,793 modification to previously awarded multiyear
contract (N00024-03-C-2101) providing full funding for fiscal year
2006 Virginia Class Submarine (SSN 781). Additionally, the
modification provides Advance Procurement funding in the amount of
$167,713,000 for fiscal 2007 submarine (SSN 782) and Economic Order
Quantity (EOQ) funding in the amount of $40,076,600 for each of the
fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2008 submarines (SSN 782 & 783).
Electric Boat Corp. will continue to subcontract with Newport News
Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va. The majority of
work under this award will be performed in Newport News, Va. (30
percent), Quonset Point, R.I. (15 percent), Groton, Conn. (15
percent), with other efforts performed at various sites throughout
the United States (40 percent). Work is expected to be completed by
April 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the
current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington,
D.C., is the contracting activity.
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