Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

Mainichi Daily News
December 7, 2009

Japan’s declaration that it will postpone a decision on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture until sometime next year has drawn fire from the United States.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s attempt to gain a compromise from the United States failed as Washington stuck to the agreed upon plan to relocate Futenma base to an area off Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.

After Japanese officials informed their U.S. counterparts of the postponement during a bilateral working group meeting on the issue Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos requested private talks with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa while asking others to leave the room.

In the talks, Roos conveyed Washington’s anger at the decision and warned that Futenma base will remain in its current location permanently unless the two countries go ahead with the agreed upon relocation plan.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20091207p2a00m0na006000c.html

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Mainichi Daily News
December 3, 2009

The Japanese government will call for the addition of environmental regulations to the Japan-U.S. Status-of-Forces Agreement.

The proposal will be made at a coming meeting of the Cabinet-level working group established by the two nations to address the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. With the working group moving towards a solution of that issue and apparently ready to take up at least some reforms of the status-of-forces agreement, Japan is looking to lessen the burden of hosting U.S. forces on Okinawa Prefecture.

Specifically, the Japanese government will call on the inclusion of provisions calling on the United States to clean up any pollution connected to its bases, and allow both local and government officials access for inspections. There have been accidental spills of toxic substances such as fuel on and around U.S. bases, but under the current status-of-forces facilities management terms the United States is not responsible for cleaning up such spills upon return of the land to Japanese control and does not allow Japan to conduct environmental pollution assessments.

The Status-of-Forces Agreement was signed in 1960 based on the Japan-U.S. security pact. It has not been amended since, and contains no environmental provisions. …

… However, the United States is not showing any interest in amending the Status-of-Forces Agreement, and there is a danger that the U.S. will not shift away from its current incremental approach to improving the treaty.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20091203p2a00m0na013000c.html

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Reuters
November 27, 2009

Poland and the United States have agreed the legal details of deploying U.S. troops in Poland after lengthy negotiations, Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski said on Friday.

The “status of forces” agreement (SOFA) opens the way for deployments of a U.S. Patriot missile battery in Poland next year as part of plans to upgrade the NATO member’s air defenses. …

Under the accord, due to be signed by the two sides on December 10, U.S. troops who commit any crime outside their base and outside their regular work would fall under Polish jurisdiction, Komorowski said. The deal also covers taxation of U.S. forces.

Poland, perturbed by Russia’s more assertive foreign policy, has long complained that it hosts no U.S. troops or major military installations despite a strong track record of sending troops to help in U.S.-led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. …

Polish forces would use the battery to upgrade their defense systems. Komorowski told Reuters earlier this year that a U.S. battery would be permanently based in Poland from 2012 and that Warsaw would also aim to buy its own anti-missile systems. …

www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AQ3IP20091127

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Honolulu Advertiser
November 22, 2009
By Richard Halloran

A churning dispute between Japan and the U.S. over the realignment of U.S. military forces in Japan has revealed not only political and diplomatic differences between the governments of President Obama and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, but a cultural chasm in the way Americans and Japanese view agreements.

The realignment, agreed to in May 2007, calls on the U.S. to move a Marine air station on Okinawa from a congested city to a less crowded place; to transfer 17,000 Marines and family members from Okinawa to U.S. territory on Guam; and to consolidate other U.S. bases on the island and thus return land to Okinawans. The intent was to reduce friction between U.S. forces and Okinawans.

The agreement was signed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Fumio Kyuma, who was minister of defense at the time, and Taro Aso, who was minister of foreign affairs. In diplomatic practice, international pacts agreed to by one administration are generally considered to be binding on successor administrations. …

In this case, the Hatoyama government, which came to office in September, has said in effect that it wants to reopen the negotiations. After meeting with Obama in Tokyo earlier this month, Hatoyama said he will consider relocating the air station outside of Okinawa and perhaps outside of Japan. “We’ll make every effort,” he said, “to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.” …

www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091122/NEWS08/911220359/Okinawa+base+strains+diplomacy

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Reuters India
November 17, 2009

Washington’s envoy to high level talks on the relocation of a U.S. base on the Japan’s southern island of Okinawa told Japanese ministers there was no feasible alternative plan, foreign ministry officials said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama promised in the run-up to his August election victory to move the Futenma U.S. Marine base off Okinawa, contradicting an agreement Washington reached with a previous government to move it to another part of the island.

“The existing plan is the only feasible one and that is the view of the entire U.S. government after 15 years of negotiation,” a Japanese government official quoted Wallace Gregson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Asia-Pacific region as saying in the first round of talks.

U.S. officials also warned that further delays to the implementation of the deal could affect a related plan to reduce the burden on Okinawa, which hosts about half the 47,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, by shifting up to 8,000 Marines to Guam, the Japanese officials said. …

Thousands rallied in Okinawa just over a week ago to urge Hatoyama to keep his pledge to move the base off the island.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-44021720091117

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Stars and Stripes (European edition)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

RAF MILDENHALL, England — The 48th Fighter Wing has resumed nighttime flight training over the English countryside and the RAF Lakenheath-based F-15C Eagles and F-15E Strike Eagles will continue flying missions until next spring, according to a news release.

Officials say the night training flights will occur Mondays through Thursdays and will generally end by 10 p.m. RAF Lakenheath is home to about 80 fighter aircraft and five rescue helicopters.

“We understand the aircraft noise can sometimes be a nuisance to the people living in and around the areas where we train,” the 48th vice commander, Col. Scott Reed, said in the release. “We make every effort to minimize the local impact, but this training is vital to what we do when we perform real-world operations with our fellow U.K. servicemen and women, as well as the servicemembers of other nations, in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.”

www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65995

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The Jeju Weekly
November, 12, 2009

Gagnon encourages Jeju residents to fight for the preservation of the Island
Bruce K. Gagnon gave a speech in Gangjeong village to oppose the construction of the navel base due to environmental concerns and fear the base will make the “island of peace” a military target in the future.

Despite heavy opposition from Jeju residents the proposed Korean naval base is scheduled to begin construction later this year. Jeju Governor Kim Tae-hwan survived a recall vote over his plan to allow the base in early October. The Jeju Elections Commission resolved the vote was invalid after a turnout of only 11 percent of the 33 percent required showed. In lieu of the negative attention surrounding the contradictory notion of missile defense warships docked at Jeju’s proclaimed “Island of Peace,” people from all over are coming out of the wood work to shout about how destructive the base would be not only to the ideal of a peaceful society, but to the precious environment that will inevitably suffer as well.

The southern part of the island, specifically Gangjeong, the proposed location of the base, bears international significance for multiple reasons. Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and recently, he visited Jeju to determine the severity of the proposed naval base. He says the most noteworthy reason for the base is structured around the fact that Jeju is the crossroad for the Malaka Straight where 80% of China’s oil is transported from the middle east.

“If the United States is able to militarily choke off the straight then the U.S. would be able to hold the keys to China’s economic engine. As the U.S. economy is collapsing the U.S. military strategy has been determined that the way we will control the world is to control the distribution of oil and natural gas…I believe that the base at Jeju is the key for this particular strategy and particularly for choking off the straight and controlling China,” said Gagnon.

Gagnon believes the base to be a “provocative, dangerous base that makes Jeju Island a target. It makes the island of peace, not an island of peace, but an island of power projection for the US empire… Especially a place that sees itself as a tourist destination to have a military base that would clearly be a target for the Chinese.” …

www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=395

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WW4 Report
November 11, 2009

While the US Embassy in Bogotá says the new agreement for expanded US access to Colombian military bases enters into force immediately, a Colombian court ruling finds the agreement is “broad and unbalanced” in favor of the United States and not based on any previous treaty, so therefore must be reviewed by Colombia’s Congress and Constitutional Court. The agreement puts no limits on the number of US personnel to be deployed in Colombia nor on the number of military bases they will use.

The Colombian State Council, a court created to issue opinions on the presence of foreign troops, stated in its ruling Oct. 13 that the agreement gives the US the power to decide what operations will occur, gives immunity to US troops, allows access to bases beyond the seven named in the agreement’s text, and defers the most important questions about military operations to future “operational agreements.”

The Council reviewed 15 prior treaties and declarations cited by the Colombian government as the foundation for the current base agreement, and found that none of them offer a basis for the current agreement on stationing of military troops and use of military bases. It concludes that the agreement is a treaty, and so must be approved by the Colombian Congress and reviewed by the constitutional court. Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez, in signing the deal, said the government would bypass legislative approval of the agreement.

Colombian Senator Gustavo Petro Nov. 4 called on the government to renounce the pact. Petro asserted, “because it didn’t go through Congress, the pact is ineffectual, and any occupation by [US] soldiers in Colombia is illegal.”

In addition, 27 European non-governmental organizations called on President Barack Obama to reconsider the agreement, and urged him to prioritize human rights in US relations with Colombia. “The militarization of Colombia,” the groups wrote, “will lead to an increase in internal destabilization, will involve even more of the civilian population in the war, increasing the violations of human rights and strengthening the resurgence of the paramilitary groups and the receding guerrilla groups.” …

www.ww4report.com/node/7923

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ABC: Radio Australia
November 9, 2009

The US President, Barack Obama heads off on his Asian tour this week, and he’ll fly straight into a storm in Japan about American military bases.

Tens of thousands of Japanese have rallied on the main island of Okinawa to protest against a controversial US base, putting strain on one of Washington’s key defence and security alliances. The new centre-left government in Tokyo says the issue will not be resolved before President Obama lands in Japan later this week.

Listen to this archived report on Radio Australia

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The Wall Street Journal
By Yochi J. Dreazen
November 6, 2009

Fort Hood, the base stricken in Thursday’s shooting rampage, is the largest U.S. military facility in the world — and a base that has a large share of the military’s overall instances of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide.

Army officials say that roughly 30,000 troops are stationed at the sprawling facility north of the Texas capital of Austin, while an additional 20,000 troops from the base are deployed to Iraq. Tens of thousands of military spouses and children live on the base and in adjacent suburbs. …

Since the start of the Afghan war in 2001, the base has lost hundreds of soldiers in combat. More alarmingly to many senior commanders there, the base has also lost at least 75 of its soldiers to suicide, one of the heaviest such tolls in the U.S. military. …

The base’s former commander, Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, used his tenure at the helm of the sprawling post to mount a broad campaign to reduce the incidence of PTSD and suicide among the soldiers on the post. …

Despite the efforts, however, Fort Hood continues to be hit hard by suicide, PTSD and other related problems. Through October, 10 Fort Hood soldiers had taken their lives in 2009, the second-highest tally in the Army behind Kentucky’s Fort Campbell, which had 16 suicides.

In full at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125747341095832795.html

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