Futenma Problem: Stop Playing with Our Hearts

I would like to request a favor starting with Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko and extending to the central bureaucrats and politicians. Stop playing with our hearts. Stop messing with the political situation. Stop having superficial discussions. Stop with your insincere apologies.

The effects of the reckless remarks by the former Defense Minister of Okinawa, Tanaka Satoshi, on plans for relocating the Futenma Airbase and on the report of its environmental impact do not stop at his own dismissal but appear to extend even to whether Minister of Defense Ichikawa Yasuo should resign.

The problem with his careless comments was that he compared the environmental assessment proceedings to sexual assault. He said, “Before you rape someone, do you say, ‘I’m going to rape you now’?” The former minister’s warped view of Okinawa and his own warped sense of human rights insults Okinawans and women. His comments also reinforce the historical notion that “a peaceful Okinawa without a military base is impossible.”

Sidestepping the Issue

It is natural for the highest official who is responsible for overseeing the situation to receive the blame. Since cabinet officials do oversee the situation and will receive the blame, they should not sidestep the issue.

This time, the citizens of Okinawa are deeply sad and furious. They have plainly embraced misgivings that won’t be easy to expunge. These reckless statements go well beyond a “slip of the tongue” but show the defense minister’s true feelings. Do not these statements reflect the true character of the bureaucratic system?

Minister of Defense Ichikawa met with Prefectural Governor Nakaima Hirokazu and apologized about the comments saying, “It is difficult to forgive,” and “It was a deeply inhumane statement.” The Minister explained that “His current statements were like his statement ‘I have no problem with sharing the details’” from the proceedings of the 1995 Okinawa Navy Seamen rape incident where he meant, “I don’t know the facts of the incident.”

Citizens of Okinawa don’t want to hear excuses. Why can’t they admit that they have not done their homework? Why can’t they say, “I have had a change of heart, and I sympathize with the people of Okinawa. I will do everything in my power to help”?

The Minister explained, “His inappropriate statement is a problem. I will do my duty to make sure that there isn’t any negative impact on the Minister of Defense in Okinawa or the National Defense Force.” Yet, he has completely missed the point.

Before he should start worrying about the negatives effects to personnel or to the country’s defense policy, shouldn’t he focus on the negligence of the bureaucratic system that has failed to satisfactorily explain the 1995 Okinawa incident which is the genesis of the current Futenma problem?

Along with the investigation into the local Minister of Defense’s “obligations as an appointee” with regards to his statements, the prefectural meeting’s resolutions will focus on “looking into the country’s and the Department of Defense’s stance with regards to the military base problem.” It is apparent that there cannot be any resolution to these fundamental problems as long as the systematic discrimination lurking in the political system does not change.

The Prime Minister’s administration, along with parties within and without power must not turn a blind eye to this problem.

At the end of many careful deliberations, the Okinawans voted “against” the relocation of the base to Henoko Bay in Nago City by their votes in the prefectural governor election, the prefectural assembly election, the mayor of Nago City election, and the national election.

We want Noda’s administration and the parties within and without power to directly take notice of the opinions of the majority of the people. If this situation were about building nuclear reactors, would the government really force construction with this much clear public opposition? They must take notice of the senselessness of ignoring public opinion.

The National Security Mafia’s Wall

The situation in the U.S. is also unsparing. The Senate in a plenary meeting did not give approval for the expenditure of $150 million for the relocation of the Futenma Base and the related U.S. Marine relocation to Guam. They did approve it for the 2012 fiscal year as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act. As for now, the contents of the bill have been approved by the House of Representatives and have entered into the meeting where the final approval can be given. However, representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties strongly doubt the feasibility of moving the Futenma Base. The future of this bill is uncertain.

Mike Mochizuki, a prominent specialist on the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, strongly advocates for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corp currently on Okinawa to the mainland. This strengthens doubts about the current U.S. military reorganization plans.

Joseph Nye, former assistant to the Vice Defense Minister, who in 1996 led the plans for relocating the base within the prefecture and the return of Futenma to Japan, recently wrote in an essay on the current relocation plans that “The current official plan to move the Marines inside Okinawa is unlikely to be acceptable to the Okinawa people.” He proposed that moving U.S. Marines to Australia which provides a location for training “is a smart move.” (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/11/21/does-the-us-need-troops-in-australia/marines-in-australia-its-about-time)

The only people left that support the relocation to Henoko Bay are those that participated in the 2006 U.S. Military reorganization plans and related bureaucrats. These people are like “national security mafia” building walls to protect the status quo between Japan and the United States. With U.S. experts changing their opinions, and Okinawan feelings as they are, working towards moving the base “outside of the prefecture, or outside of the country” can become a shortcut for Japan and the U.S. for removing the risk the base poses and for improving U.S.-Japan relations.

This is the time for the Prime Minister to not be caught up in the advantages and disadvantages of the immediate future, but instead to have a greater perspective. We ask that President Obama reconsider the U.S-Japan alliance and follow those truths that ensure a truly democratic political policy.