Earthquake response doesn’t shake Okinawans’ opposition to U.S. bases
CNN International
By Eve Bower
March 13, 2011
Every morning at 7:30, Hiroshi Ashitomi trudges up sand-dusted steps, pries open a metal folding chair and joins a handful of his fellow retirees under a plastic tent, facing seaward. They are staging a protest.
Their sit-ins are in opposition to a perceived threat that many of his neighbors also fear: the planned expansion of a U.S. military base on Okinawa’s east-facing Henoko Bay.
Last week, however, the routines of both Ashitomi and the U.S. military were upset. And even though the reason for that disruption — a devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami — demonstrated the advantage of having U.S. bases, Ashitomi and others say they will not alter their efforts to get the U.S. military off the island.
In the wake of the earthquake, the U.S. military is sending humanitarian aid and technical assistance to the hardest-hit areas of Japan. Many of these efforts are being launched from bases on Okinawa Island, where the United States maintains a permanent military presence under a treaty the two countries signed after World War II.
Staging areas in Okinawa allowed U.S. assistance to reach the affected areas faster than aid from many other countries. Perhaps more than at any time in recent memory, the U.S. military has made a compelling case for its presence on Okinawa.
But to Ashitomi, who said he views U.S. troops as de facto occupiers, the benefits are outweighed. …
Read on: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.us.okinawa/?hpt=T2
