Slowly, secret U.S. nuke deals come to light

[FarCenter]

By ERIC JOHNSTON

OSAKA — Decades since Washington and Tokyo reportedly crafted secret agreements to allow U.S. nuclear weapons in Japanese territory, declassified documents from the U.S. detailing its nuclear presence in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan during the postwar period are slowly coming to light.

The move is creating headaches for both countries as they grapple over military bases in Okinawa and the future structure of the alliance.

The documents, some dating to the late 1950s, were publicly released by the National Security Archives at George Washington University in mid-October, not long after Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada called for an investigation into four alleged secret pacts, including allowing ships and aircraft carrying nuclear arms into Japanese territory.

The Japanese government has repeatedly denied the existence of any secret agreements. A panel of Foreign Ministry officials appointed to look into the matter is expected to issue a report by the end of the year. But disclosure of the report may be postponed until early next year, Okada said Wednesday.

In addition to the secret agreement on stopovers by vessels and planes carrying nuclear weapons, the panel will seek to confirm three other pacts.

The veiled documents include an agreement for Japan to shoulder $4 million of the cost of Okinawa's reversion to Japan, an accord to allow nuclear weapons to enter Okinawa during emergencies and the use of U.S. bases in Japan in the event of a crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

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[Vinnie From Indy]

1. HA! Don't fool yourself!

The Japanese have had the ability to very quickly construct and deploy nuclear weapons since at least the 1970s. Anyone that thinks the Japanese haven't had the technological expertise to build nuclear weapons for decades is deluded.

[FarCenter]

2. Well, yes, but they assert that they have not actually built any

Although if they did, no doubt they would be smaller, more reliable, and make a bigger bang.

However, the official policy has always been that they neither have weapons of their own, nor do they allow nuclear weapons on their territory. Its one of their fundamental laws.

The publication of documents demonstrating that this was a sham all along and that US nukes were on Japanese territory will not go down well with the Japanese public.