SUBHEAD: Japan says "Don't expect a deal on Okinawa-Guam transfer during Obama's trip later this week".
\
By Jeff Marchesseault on 8 November 2009 in Guam News Factor -
http://guamnewsfactor.com/200911081467/Top-Stories/Japan-Says-Don-t-Expect-A-Deal-On-Okinawa-Guam-Transfer-During-Obama-s-Tokyo-Trip-Later-This-Week.html
Image above: B-2 bomber, flanked by F-15 fighters, over Andersen AFB in Guam in 2005 From http://www.mahalo.com/answers/social-science/does-russia-want-to-become-a-superpower-like-it-was-in-the-cold-war
Tip of the Spear - Pacific Island
Last year the Bush Administration announced that Guam would be the site of 'the largest military build-up in the history of the US'. Locals say that the communities indigenous to this small Pacific island will not survive. Guam is a political anomaly: A US territory where citizens do not have US voting-rights and where island politics are controlled by Washington.
The indigenous population, the Chamarro, live in poverty and preserving their traditional way of life is a struggle. 'We are certainly on the endangered species list', says Chamorro leader Debbie Quintana. Now the US plans to make Guam the lynchpin of its military strategy in the western Pacific, and the mood in Guam is of anger and disbelief.
'We are a strategic location, a possession, a bounty of war', Quinata says. 'And if we don't like it, tough'.
Less than a week before President Obama's scheduled visit to Tokyo, Japan's foreign minister is warning U.S. officials not to expect any answers on where Japan may allow the Marine Corps to relocate its air base within Okinawa. According to GulfNews.com, Katsuya Okada says no deal can be expected during President Barack Obama's visit. Guam's mostly-Marines buildup hinges on the timely and successful relocation of Futenma Air Station from crowded Ginowan to remote Nago, both of which are in Okinawa.
Eight thousand U.S. Marines and their families would relocate to Guam as part of the troop realignment. Guam's related military buildup is due to get underway in the summer/fall of 2010, but Japan's new government has yet to commit to a 2006 American-Japan accord spelling out the details of the realignment. In fact, in the not-so-distant past, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has gone as far as opposing a U.S. air base anywhere in Okinawa.
Video above: Produced by SBS/Dateline. Distributed by Journeyman Pictures From (http://youtu.be/fTrDl8k9CEM).
See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Diego Garcia - Another stolen island 11/6/09
Ea O Ka Aina: DARPA & Super-Cavitation on Kauai 3/24/09
Island Breath: RIMPAC 2008 - Navy fired up in Hawaii 7/2/08
Island Breath: Navy Plans for the Pacific 9/3/07
Island Breath: RIMPAC 2006 - Impact on oceani 5/23/06
Island Breath: RIMPAC 2004 - Whale strandings on Kauai 9/2/04
\
By Jeff Marchesseault on 8 November 2009 in Guam News Factor -
http://guamnewsfactor.com/200911081467/Top-Stories/Japan-Says-Don-t-Expect-A-Deal-On-Okinawa-Guam-Transfer-During-Obama-s-Tokyo-Trip-Later-This-Week.html
Image above: B-2 bomber, flanked by F-15 fighters, over Andersen AFB in Guam in 2005 From http://www.mahalo.com/answers/social-science/does-russia-want-to-become-a-superpower-like-it-was-in-the-cold-war
Tip of the Spear - Pacific Island
Last year the Bush Administration announced that Guam would be the site of 'the largest military build-up in the history of the US'. Locals say that the communities indigenous to this small Pacific island will not survive. Guam is a political anomaly: A US territory where citizens do not have US voting-rights and where island politics are controlled by Washington.
The indigenous population, the Chamarro, live in poverty and preserving their traditional way of life is a struggle. 'We are certainly on the endangered species list', says Chamorro leader Debbie Quintana. Now the US plans to make Guam the lynchpin of its military strategy in the western Pacific, and the mood in Guam is of anger and disbelief.
'We are a strategic location, a possession, a bounty of war', Quinata says. 'And if we don't like it, tough'.
Less than a week before President Obama's scheduled visit to Tokyo, Japan's foreign minister is warning U.S. officials not to expect any answers on where Japan may allow the Marine Corps to relocate its air base within Okinawa. According to GulfNews.com, Katsuya Okada says no deal can be expected during President Barack Obama's visit. Guam's mostly-Marines buildup hinges on the timely and successful relocation of Futenma Air Station from crowded Ginowan to remote Nago, both of which are in Okinawa.
Eight thousand U.S. Marines and their families would relocate to Guam as part of the troop realignment. Guam's related military buildup is due to get underway in the summer/fall of 2010, but Japan's new government has yet to commit to a 2006 American-Japan accord spelling out the details of the realignment. In fact, in the not-so-distant past, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has gone as far as opposing a U.S. air base anywhere in Okinawa.
Video above: Produced by SBS/Dateline. Distributed by Journeyman Pictures From (http://youtu.be/fTrDl8k9CEM).
See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Diego Garcia - Another stolen island 11/6/09
Ea O Ka Aina: DARPA & Super-Cavitation on Kauai 3/24/09
Island Breath: RIMPAC 2008 - Navy fired up in Hawaii 7/2/08
Island Breath: Navy Plans for the Pacific 9/3/07
Island Breath: RIMPAC 2006 - Impact on oceani 5/23/06
Island Breath: RIMPAC 2004 - Whale strandings on Kauai 9/2/04
No comments :
Post a Comment