There's no longer any need for Washington to defend Japan and its neighbors. Which eliminates the only excuse for burdening the Okinawan people with America's extraordinary military presence. After ne

Read the whole article.

Makes a lot of sense:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-bandow/us-should-close-bases-on-okinawa_b_6384110.html

Time to go home, guys!

This guy is a complete nutter. He is only a tri-corner hat short of a tea partier. Any idiot can see that China has not changed in the way we need it to to have peace in the world. His opinions can be safely discounted by those in Japan, as "national security" is still a big vote winner.

@BertiWooster: thanks for the complete article...Hatoyama. That one was the man for the peace in Asia. Such a pity he failed under the US pressure.

This guy is a complete nutter. He is only a tri-corner hat short of a tea partier. Any idiot can see that China has not changed in the way we need it to to have peace in the world. His opinions can be safely discounted by those in Japan, as "national security" is still a big vote winner.

I was with you on every point except for the Tea partier remark.

@bertie

Not going to happen, when Oh, when will you ever realize that?

Okinawa is the US Military`s last overseas empire and they do not want to give it up. It is a place where they have a lot of massive facilities representing all 4 branches of services located close together. It is probably one of the few overseas locations left where the Military can bring their families and not worry about crime, drugs, gangs and terrorist attacks. They have excellent housing for single personnel and Military Families, the dependent schools (2-high schools, 2- junior high schools, 6-elementary schools) are some of the best in the world. They have excellent leisure facilities including two-18 hole golf courses, two-9 hole golf courses, tennis courts, football fields, baseball fields, swimming pools, fitness gyms, 5-private beaches and even a Boat Marina. They have a host nation that is willing to spend massive amounts of money on them. In my opinion it would be hard to find another place outside of the US where the US Military has it any better than Okinawa.

I just calculated that Japan spends 1/4 of 1% of it's government budget on the US bases ($2 billion out of $500 billion). Explain to me how this is breaking Japan's back again? I could care less how many golf courses there are and neither should anyone else.

scipantheist, Japan pays more than $7 billion for the US bases per year, and pay more for machine purchases. Japan pays more than all the other US allies are paying all combined. And Japan has current account deficit.

I wish more people thought like Doug Bandow. He makes some darn good arguments.

scipantheist,

Have a look at how much Japan is paying for the privilege of hosting the US military:

http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=1377

I fail to see where any of you arguing my calculation have a point. Even if the $7 billion figure is correct, that means maybe it is 1% of Japan's government budget. This is hardly breaking anyone's back considering the carry-on effects.

Doug who? The Cato institute is not considered a serious research group and espouses nothing but opinions so far outside the norm as to be laughable. Rather surprised the Huffington Post would even run this.

While I agree that the U.S. should dramatically reduce its presence on Okinawa (and S. Korea) and that we waste billions of dollars mostly defending against non-existent threats and supporting regimes and policies that cause far more problems than they could ever solve, Japan is no more capable of defending itself anymore so than Kuwait could defend itself when invaded by Iraq in 1990.

Couple paragraphs from the article Bernie quoted above:

Such a shift would place greater pressure on Japanese officials to forge better relations with their neighbors, starting with South Korea. Regional cooperation should become a primary tool of Tokyo's defense policy. As long as Japan can hide behind the U.S. fleet, Japanese politicians can play the nationalist card at home. Left on its own, Tokyo would have to weigh the international cost of such behavior much more seriously. Of course, the Japanese people could decide to do nothing more, which would be their right. But the consequences of making that choice would be their own as well. Japanese pacifists also would have to demonstrate the courage of their convictions instead of being shielded from the consequences by the American military.

The time is way way over due for Japan to have dealt with its history etc & make better more honest relations with its neighbours. Time for Japan to grow up & take care of itself instead of hiding under uncle sam's skirt.

Now can Japan actually manage the above............certainly not on short notice but if the Yanks put in a plan to pull out a lot of their presence all over Japan, especially in Okinawa over time it would FORCE Japan to do so, which would be good for it, or maybe a disaster..........either way if I was a Yankee I wouldn't want my son or daughter stationed in Japan.

Seems the real reason the Yanks are big in Japan is they have all this great stuff to play with & make US style homes where Japanese could never in a million years do similar, the US military simply doesn't want to give up their country clubs in Japan!

Thanks, GW, though it's Bertie, not "Bernie."

I totally agree, it's way past time for Japan to stand on its own two feet.

Though without his American handlers, Abe would probably have another nervous breakdown and be out of politics for ever.

Not a bad idea, that, come to think of it.