Major Blow to USMC Move from Okinawa?
I am very curious to see the moves Prime Minister Hatoyama will take if he follows throw on nixing the deal to relocate MCAS Futenma. Now that the new Nago, Okinawa mayor and anti-U.S. base candidate Susumu Inamine and those that elected him are against hosting a new USMC air base in their city. Maybe “some” of the citizens of Okinawa will get their wish while others are still worried about the economic impact to their island. Just before President Obama visited Japan, the governor of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture said that MCAS Futenma could stay on the island.
[AP] Japan’s prime minister said Monday he may nix a key military deal with Washington on relocating U.S. troops, after a local election in Okinawa showed that residents oppose any new Marine base in their region.
Residents of Nago elected a mayor who is staunchly against moving a base there from a larger city nearby — plans which Washington considers fundamental to its troop realignment in the region. An agreement on the relocation of Futenma Marine air field was made in 2006 under the previous government that lost power last year.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the results of Sunday’s election reflected the will of the people, and that Japan would completely re-examine its accord with the U.S.
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