Reduce the Omoiyari Yosan Benefits to the US Military!

Published in Ryūkyū Shimpō
(Japan) on 11 January 2015
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Thomas S. Evans. Edited by Nicholas Eckart.
Budget reduction is one of the biggest threats to the U.S. military.

The U.S. Department of Defense has revealed a reorganization plan to either close or merge 15 military bases and establishments in Europe, along with a general reduction in garrison numbers. The plan has been devised in order to deal with recent drastic cuts in the national defense budget.

This is a reduction that was announced in spite of rising fears among European countries regarding national security in light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. What could be the reason for withdrawing troops from Europe before Okinawa, a place that analysts from the U.S. and Japan alike agree doesn’t need a military presence?

Chances are, the existence of “omoiyari yosan”*— the military benefits expenses Japan itself furnishes — was not irrelevant to this decision. It’s simply cheaper to keep troops in Japan than in Europe. In order to progress with the dissolution of military bases in Okinawa, it is imperative to hurry to reduce the needlessly ambiguous omoiyari yosan payments at the root of the problem.

In the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) that the U.S. Department of Defense released last year, there was a recommendation to pursue relocation of Marine Corps forces — including those forces stationed in Okinawa — to Guam. Even from the perspective of countering China’s anti-access/area-denial strategy (A2/AD) strategy of keeping U.S. forces from entering nearby waters, it’s unnecessary to keep a huge reserve of troops on Okinawa, which is within missile strike distance of the mainland.

There are two possible reasons for maintaining a militarily unnecessary reserve of marines in Okinawa. One reason is omoiyari yosan. As it happens, there is no stipulation that ever obligated Japan to pay omoiyari yosan in the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement at all. On the contrary, the first item of article 24 of the agreement stipulates, “the United States will bear for the duration of this agreement without cost to Japan all expenditures incident to the maintenance of the United States armed forces in Japan,” with the exception of granting land and facilities for U.S. military use. Compensation for employees hired directly by the U.S. military is included in “all expenditures.” From the beginning, it’s an expense Japan has never needed to pay.

The other possible reason are the circumstances from the Japanese side. Based on the testimony of Ambassador Mondale, who was serving in Japan at the time of the 1995 rape scandal, it was hypothesized that “the U.S. military in Okinawa will be driven out, or at the least forced to make a considerable reduction.”* However, the Japanese government stifled those sentiments by claiming that it would actually be problematic for U.S. troops to leave Okinawa. The concentration of bases in Okinawa, as opposed to elsewhere in Japan, is due to political pressures stemming from domestic opposition to their establishment.

The recent estimate of national debt, breaking past 1 quadrillion yen at 1,039,413,200,000,000 yen (as of June 2014), shows we are in no place to be helping out the U.S. with its expenses. The Japanese government ought to reduce omoiyari yosan, which is the root cause preventing the dissolution of U.S. bases.

* "Sympathy budget,” i.e., payments made as a gesture of thanks/goodwill.

** Editor's note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.


<社説>欧州米軍縮小 思いやり予算を削減せよ

2015年1月11日

 米軍にとって最大の脅威は予算削減である。
 米国防総省は欧州の米軍基地・施設15カ所を閉鎖、統合し、駐留を縮小する再編計画を明らかにした。国防予算の大幅削減に対処するためだ。
 ロシアのウクライナへの軍事介入で欧州諸国で安全保障への不安が高まっている時期にもかかわらず削減を発表した。軍事的に駐留する必要がないと日米の識者が指摘する沖縄より欧州を先に削減する理由は何か。
 在日米軍の駐留経費を負担する日本の「思いやり予算」の存在と無縁ではないだろう。欧州より日本駐留の方が安上がりだからだ。沖縄の基地負担を軽減するために、根拠の曖昧な「思いやり予算」の削減こそ急がれるべきだ。
 米国防総省が昨年発表した国防戦略見直し(QDR)は、在沖縄部隊を含む海兵隊のグアム移転を進めると明記した。
 近海に米軍を寄せ付けないことを目指す中国などの「接近阻止戦略」に対抗する上でも、大陸からのミサイルの射程内にある沖縄に大規模な海兵隊は不要であるとの認識だ。
 軍事的に不要な海兵隊が居座り続ける理由は二つ考えられる。一つは「思いやり予算」だ。そもそも「思いやり予算」自体、支出を義務付ける規定が、日米地位協定にもない。逆に、地位協定(第24条1項)は、在日米軍を「維持することにともなう全ての経費」は、施設区域の提供などを除き「協定の存続期間中日本側に負担をかけないで米側が負担する」こととされている。米軍が直接雇用する基地従業員の労務費もその一つだ。本来、払う必要のない支出だ。
 もう一つは日本側の事情がある。1995年の少女乱暴事件当時の駐日米大使だったモンデール氏の証言によると、事件直後に米側は「沖縄の米軍は撤退か少なくとも大幅な駐留削減に追い込まれる」事態も想定していた。だが日本側が「沖縄から米軍が出てもらっては困る」と米側を引き留めていた。沖縄に基地が集中するのは日本国内の反対など政治的理由からなのだ。
 「国の借金」は1千兆円を突破し過去最大の1039兆4132億円(2014年6月末時点)で、とても米国を思いやれる余裕はないはずだ。日本政府は、沖縄の基地軽減を阻む元凶となっている「思いやり予算」を削減すべきだ
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1 COMMENT

  1. The people of the U.S. like and admire the Japanese and we feel obligated to protect Japan. Other than the U.S., Japan has few, if any, friends in the region. China’s rise in power and its aggressive territorial claims are a threat to Japan. It is therefore in Japan’s own self interest that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is undertaking to strengthen Japan’s armed forces and to deepen the alliance with the U.S. Trying to poison relations with the benevolent great power that protects Japan is not a wise course.