Maher’s Slip of the Tongue Is an Unbelievable Insult

Published in Okinawa Times
(Japan) on 7 March 2011
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Tom Derbish. Edited by Mark DeLucas.
It seems that the man in charge of the U.S.’ negotiations over the relocation of Futenma military airfield holds Okinawa in contempt and scoffs at the problem of the base itself.

Kevin Maher, head of the Office of Japan Affairs at the U.S. State Department and former consulate general of Okinawa, is reported to have said in a speech given to U.S. college students that, “Okinawans claim MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Futenma is the most dangerous base in the world, they know it is not true.” He then pointed out that other airports in Japan are near residential areas.

The students were preparing for a research trip to Tokyo and Okinawa last December when Maher advised them to “be careful about 'tatemae and honne' [...] the idea that words and actual intentions are different." We are disappointed that the U.S. State Department’s head of Japanese Affairs would run his mouth and display such prejudice in front of college students coming to Japan. It’s a mistake that forces us to question his professional competence.

Maher stirred controversy during his time as consulate general by making similar comments that Futenma was not dangerous. Will the Japanese government be able to continue discussing Futenma while partnered with a diplomat who negates the entire process as far back as the mutual agreement reached during the Hashimoto-Mondale summit in 1996? We don’t believe so. To deny the dangers of Futenma is to destroy the basis of Japanese-American diplomacy on the issue. His comments belittle 15 years of negotiations, including the resignation of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who promised the base “out of the prefecture, at the least.”

The college students took notes during the speech, but Maher denies their clear transcript of his remarks, saying, it is "neither accurate nor complete." Perhaps his past remarks about Futenma being “not dangerous” were his “honne.” Even worse were his comments that Japanese people use their “culture of consensus as a means of extortion…By pretending to seek consensus, people try to get as much money as possible. "He also derided Okinawans as “lazy,” saying they are “masters of manipulation and extortion.”

Compared with other countries that allow U.S. troops to be stationed on their territory, Japan shoulders an enormous share of the expense. Our tiny island of Okinawa is home to most of the troops, and they are stationed at a base built by the army of “bayonets and bulldozers,” as the tyrannical U.S. occupation force was once called. Given Okinawa’s history, the cost of the base and the damage caused by it, we are sickened that a U.S. diplomat would spew out contemptuous words like “manipulation” and “extortion.” We are fed up with simple black and white arguments, that Japanese politicians use "tatemae and honne," so “U.S. ambassadors who speak the truth are criticized.”

Maher has worked with the embassy since the 1980s and is generally supportive of Japan. It seems that many years of negotiations may have warped his outlook on the country. He is quoted as saying, “Tokyo needs to tell the Okinawan governor, ‘If you want money, sign it,’” and, “Okinawan politicians will agree to a deal in Tokyo only to return to Okinawa and claim they did not reach an accord.”

Maher and the pro-relocation faction seem to harbor strong feelings of distrust. That may be why both the Japanese and U.S. governments have dispensed with a local consensus and are moving ahead with discussion of Henoko as a site for the relocation. The U.S. is pushing for a decision by this spring. So the talk of “reducing Okinawa’s burden” was all lies.


[メア氏舌禍]信じられない侮辱発言
2011年3月7日 09時13分

米軍普天間飛行場の移設返還交渉の米側担当者は、心の中では沖縄を侮辱し、基地問題を軽視していたようだ。

米国務省のケビン・メア日本部長(前駐沖縄総領事)が同省内で行った米大学生への講義で、「普天間は世界で最も危険というが、沖縄の人はそれが本当でないことを知っている」と発言したらしい。住宅地に近い空港が日本国内には他にもあると指摘した。

昨年12月に研修旅行で東京と沖縄へ向かう大学生らにメア氏は、「日本人の本音と建前に気をつけるように」とアドバイスした。

米国務省の日本部長がそのような偏見を日本に向かう大学生の前で口走ったことに失望する。メア氏の職責に対する適格性を問わざるを得ない舌禍だ。

メア氏は沖縄勤務中にも普天間は危険でない、と発言して物議を醸したことがある。1996年に橋本―モンデール会談でまとめた普天間返還合意の意義、これまでの交渉経過を否定する米外交官を相手に、日本政府は普天間問題の話し合いを継続できるのだろうか。そこに信頼はない。

普天間の危険性を否定すると、日米交渉の土台が吹き飛ぶ。「最低でも県外」を追求した鳩山由紀夫前首相が辞任したことを含め、過去15年の交渉の歴史をあざけるような発言だ。

講義を聴いた大学生が書き留めた発言録が明らかになったことに、メア氏は「正確でも完全でもない」と否定している。過去にも語った「危険でない」という見方はおそらく本音だろう。

さらに耳を疑うのは、「日本人は合意文化をゆすりに使う。合意を追い求めるふりをしながら、できるだけ多くの金を得ようとする」と語ったことだ。沖縄人は「怠惰」で、「ごまかしとゆすりの名人だ」と侮辱した。

日本の米軍駐留経費負担は他の受入国と比較できないほど高額だ。小さな沖縄に多くの米軍が駐留し、その基地の起源は「銃剣とブルドーザー」と呼ばれる米軍占領下の圧政だった。

駐留経費負担や沖縄の歴史と基地被害に思いを寄せず、「ゆすり」「ごまかし」というさげすみの言葉を吐く米外交官の存在が嘆かわしい。

日本の政治家は「本音と建前」を使い、「真実を言う米大使は批判される」という単純な善悪論に食傷する。

80年代から駐日大使館での勤務経験がある知日派のメア氏だが、長い対日外交を通して彼の日本観はなぜ屈折したのだろうか。

メア氏は「日本政府は沖縄の知事に対し、『もしお金が欲しいならサインしろ』と言う必要がある」「沖縄の政治家は日本政府と(東京で)合意しても沖縄に帰ると合意していないと言う」とも語ったらしい。移設容認派に強い不信感を抱いていたようだ。

そのためだろうか。日米両政府の実務者協議はいま、地元合意を抜きにして、辺野古移転の協議を進めている。米側は今春には決着させるよう迫っている。

「沖縄の負担軽減」は虚言だったのか。
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