Japan: Okinawans Protest New US Marine Base
Political Affairs Magazine
by: Akahata
November 14, 2009
About 21,000 Okinawans held a rally on November 8 in Ginowan City demanding the immediate closure of the dangerous U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station and opposing the plan to move it to Henoko to provide a state-of-the-art air base in Okinawa.”
Ginowan is the city that hosts the U.S. Futenma base, but an overwhelming majority of the residents are demanding that the base site be returned to the city so that they can live free of sonic booms from U.S. military aircraft and the danger of plane crashes.
Participants in the rally demonstrated their firm opposition to a new U.S. base being constructed anywhere in Okinawa.
Speaking on behalf of the organizers of the rally, Ginowan Mayor Iha Yoichi urged Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio to take a decisive step to free Okinawans from the unbearable burdens of U.S. bases, the source of their anguish and sufferings, which has continued to exist for more than sixty years.
Mayor Onaga Masatoshi of Naha City stated, “Although I am a conservative, I am sure the majority of Okinawans are united in calling for U.S. bases to be reduced.”
Mayor Noguni Masaharu of Chatan Town, north of Ginowan City, warned that residents nearby the Futenma base can no longer put up with the heavy burden of hosting the base. We also oppose the idea of moving the U.S. Marine Corps operations at Futenma to the U.S. Kadena Air Force Base.” …
www.politicalaffairs.net/japan-okinawans-protest-new-us-marine-base/
