Japanese Furious that American Base Stays

[liveonearth]

I didn't realize until I read this on the BBC that so many Japanese would like the American naval base removed from Okinawa. Hatoyama, the current prime minister, was elected with great enthusiasm after he said he'd remove the base but now he's squirming and saying he can't do it. Instead he offers to move the US naval base to a less populated part of the island. He will probably lose his job over it.


The US military occupies 10-20% of Okinawa. The environmental destruction we've caused there is enough to tick off any environmentalist, and our boys have such terrible manners that there's hardly anybody left who doesn't hate us. So exactly why is it that the US gets to have military installations all over the globe, whether they want us there or not? Oh yeah, it's not the people we're dealing with, it's the governments. And America is much bigger and more willing to use our weapons of mass destruction.

My apologies to the people of Okinawa. You have a long history of peace and we have no right to destroy your home for our wars. I have deep shame and regret for the actions of my nation.

Comments

[geordie.livejournal.com]

It's a tiresome business losing a war you started to a super power with a long memory. Just like the allied powers still operating in Germany, the US isn't exactly in Japan by invitation. The US even has special legal status in Britain.

(Hmm, migraine interferes with my ability to make sense.)