Tens of thousands protest on Okinawa to close key U.S. bases in Japan

[bananas]

Source: USA Today

Tens of thousands of protesters Sunday on Okinawa called for the closure of all U.S. military bases on the strategically important island, following last month's rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman in which a U.S. base worker is the suspect.

It was one of the largest anti-U.S. base protests in Japan in decades and comes amid delicate negotiations over relocating a key American air base on Okinawa and China's increasingly assertive behavior in the Asia-Pacific region.

A crowd estimated by Japan’s Kyodo News service at 65,000 rallied in sweltering conditions at an outdoor sports stadium, holding signs reading, “Marines, Withdraw” and “Our anger has reached the limit.”

Thousands more protested outside Japan’s parliament building in Tokyo, and protests were planned in more than 40 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, according to local news reports.

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Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/06/19/okinawa-protest-marines/86110434/

[seabeckind]

1. Good. Bring them home.

"strategically important"? To whom and for what?

And at the same time bring home the rest of the bases in Japan. And Korea.

Leftover cold war policy.

Spend those bucks here....

[lordsummerisle]

5. I do agree we should be cutting back on bases in the area

however, military action is a real possibility on the Korean peninsula
and Japan, along with South Korea, would be a prime staging area...

[seabeckind]

6. So what?

What makes their conflict our conflict?

Maybe if they really went at it there wouldn't be a NK anymore.

Then we can enjoy our appliances in peace.

(added) Ok, my bias shows. I think Samsung sucks.

[lordsummerisle]

7. South Korea is a long-standing ally of the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea%E2%80%93United_States_relations

[seabeckind]

8. So what?

You didn't answer the question just responded with the argument to tradition.

[lordsummerisle]

9. Sorry

I don't have a good answer to "so what?"...

[seabeckind]

10. You sure don't. Cause any real justification ended 40 years ago. n/t

[lordsummerisle]

11. Really?

so what happened in 1976?

[seabeckind]

12. My draft eligibility came to an end.

[lordsummerisle]

15. Awesome n/t

[mountain grammy]

2. Yep, close them..

can't afford it.

[swhisper1]

3. close them

[840high]

4. Very good.

[Ash_F]

13. Do American personnel still have prosecution immunity there?

If the US government is not willing to give that up in a country, they should not operate there.

It is undignified and unjust. The main reason we were kicked out of Iraq.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Thousands in Okinawa Demand U.S. Military Leave Japan After Killing

Thousands in Okinawa Demand U.S. Military Leave Japan After Killing
Melissa Chan,Time 11 hours ago

About 65,000 people on Sunday held a protest in Okinawa, Japan, to pressure U.S. military bases to leave the country after a former Marine was arrested in connection with the rape and killing of a local woman.

The protesters wore black to mourn the woman as they demanded Japanese officials to review the U.S.-Japanese security agreement, which allows for the continued presence of U.S. military bases in Japan, the Associated Press reports.

The woman’s body was found last month. A U.S. contractor, who is a former Marine, was arrested last month on suspicion of abandoning her body. However, he has not yet been charged with killing her, according to the AP.

In 1995, three American servicemen raped a girl, which also sparked outrage at the time. Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga referred to the tragedy when addressing the crowd at the protest on Sunday. “We had pledged never to repeat such an incident,” he said, the AP reports. “I couldn’t change the political system to prevent that. That is my utmost regret as a politician and as governor of Okinawa.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thousands-okinawa-demand-u-military-134436187.html

I hope Okinawa will get the answer it has sought for so many years and the US military will finally leave in peace, as they have been asking all this time, as rapes, murders, etc. have accumulated, including rapes of children.

[cstanleytech]

16. I doubt the japanese government will go along with getting rid of the US bases because then they

would be on the hook for the entire cost of their own defense and maintaining a standing army is not cheap.

[seabeckind]

17. Oh, we'll make sure we get their permission.

[ReRe]

18. It's a pipe-dream...

... but it's many a people's pipe-dream at home as well as "over there" in Japan. It would be a great place to start (closing down bases over seas.) It truly would be the best thing that ever happened since they were built there to begin with over a half century ago.
Close it down and bring our men and women home! I want a pipe-dream! Give me a pipe-dream! I want a pipe-dream! Give me a pipe-dream! I want a pipe-dream! Give me a pipe-dream!