The Absurd US Bases in Japan - Robert Higgs - Consortium News

[ensho]

http://www.buzzflash.net/story.php?id=1816321


"Yet the Yankees never left Japan. Their military installations remain there today, 66 years after Japan’s surrender. These bases are staffed by some 36,000 U.S. military personnel and more than 5,000 American civilians employed by the U.S. Department of Defense. About three-quarters of the U.S. military bases in Japan are located on the islands of Okinawa, where the fiercest battle of the Pacific war occurred in the spring of 1945, causing horrendous losses on both sides, including many thousands of civilian deaths, and the destruction of about 90 percent of the islands’ buildings. As if the wartime devastation were not enough, the American military personnel on Okinawa since 1945 have made themselves a chronic nuisance to the local populace, perpetrating crimes that range from automobile-related incidents, such as hit and run, to assaults and rapes. U.S. aircraft sometimes crash into civilian areas."
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if only the Japanese could wave a wand and say 'begone'

it seems once we americans put a foot down on others property we never take it up again

[Boojatta]

1. During WWII, the government of Japan tried extremely hard to surrender ...

but its efforts to surrender didn't include releasing women who had been abducted from neighboring East Asian nations and who were being used as sex slaves for the Japanese military.

[LeftinOH]

2. Why couldn't the Japanese could get rid of the bases if they really wanted?

The US bases in the Philippines were booted out nearly 20 years ago.

[pintobean]

3. That doesn't fit the propaganda.

[CanonRay]

4. Don't we still have a base in Subic Bay, Phillipines

or did I miss it closing. I admittedly don't keep up on all this stuff.

[CanonRay]

5. Never mind, it closed I see in Wiki

Boy the 90's sure blew right by me!

[hack89]

21. That's exactly right - the Japanese have their own reasons for keeping US bases

there is a reason they spend nearly $2 billion a year supporting the US military.

[ChandlerJr]

6. As I understand it the Japanese constitution does not allow a

Military. They do have a rather large Home Security force but it's the US that provides the bulk of their military protection. They seem to be reluctant to change their constitution for a number of reasons not the least of which is what it would cost them.

One of the other problems is China. Without US presence it's likely that China would finally get around to retaliating for the war crimes committed by the Japanese against China in the 1930s.

That being said, get us the hell out and let the chips fall where they may. How long do we need to protect the war criminals?

[Boojatta]

8. What percentage of the people in Japan do you think are war criminals?

[ChandlerJr]

16. Oh, I don't know

Maybe about the same percentage as Americans alive today who actually were involved in the roundup and internment in concentration camps of Japanese-American citizens after the breakout of WWll. Give or take a few points.

[Boojatta]

18. Internment is usually in internment camps. Concentration camps are another kettle of fish.

[Xithras]

14. The Japanese have been increasingly ignoring that provision lately.

The Defense forces have been expanding to include fighter jets, helicopter carriers, anti-submarine warfare craft, and a defensive Navy. They've even recently started crafting military alliances with South Korea.

The Japanese government has basically started reinterpreting that provision to mean that they can't maintain an offensive military, but are now operating under the belief that they can put together any military they want for defense.

The Japanese believe that U.S. interests now lie elsewhere, and are no longer convinced that we would aid them in a full scale war with China. South Korea apparently shares that fear, which is why both countries have been ramping up their military forces for the past half-decade or so.

And, FWIW, there are very few war criminals in Japan, and virtually all are in retirement homes at this point. Most of the Japanese military didn't survive the war. Of those that did, the youngest of them are about 85 years old now. The officers and leaders would be in their 90's and 100's, and are virtually all dead.

The population of todays Japan were either children during WW2, or were born after the war. They aren't war criminals.

[ChandlerJr]

17. Well that certainly explains Japan's 1st foreign

naval base since WW11 in the Horn of Africa state of Djibouti. I guess we can leave them on their own now after all.

[hack89]

20. They have a very large and modern military

From the Japanese perspective, we are there for two reasons:

1. Provide geo-political stability for economic prosperity.

2. So they don't have to build nuclear weapons to counter China an North Korea.

[jwirr]

7. We did not stay because of the Japanese - we had new fish to fry

in Asia: USSR, China, Vietnam, etc. These bases are just a handy starting point. They should be closed. China is now running the show over there and the last thing we want is a war with China.

[pintobean]

9. Yeah, fuck our friends

Let them face a super-power by themselves.

[Boojatta]

11. Now you're talking friends with benefits?

Perhaps not. The nuances of English sometimes confuse.

[Boojatta]

10. How would you feel about a hot war with Cuba?

One nuke can ruin your whole day.

[jwirr]

23. I do not want war with anyone - we are so overstretched already

that we are going down if we keep the empire going.

[sarcasmo]

12. 36,000 troops per year at what costs to the taxpayer? No money for social programs plenty of cash 4

War!

[Boojatta]

13. How many wounded and how many killed in the war currently being waged in Japan?

[ensho]

15. well, we don't know how many are being radiated - navy ships have

been washed clean? of radiation several times. guess the personnel on the ships were washed down too.

[hack89]

19. The Japanese pay $2 billion a year for the bases

as well as all the civilian workers. Having bases in Japan saves a lot of money.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omoiyari_Yosan

[sarcasmo]

24. Then we should take payment from every country in which we have a base.

[hack89]

25. In most cases we do

they are covered by Status of Forces agreements. Host nation support is very common.

[cherokeeprogressive]

29. 99.9% of the time I agree with you. Not this time though...

An American Servicemember at any overseas base can buy a pack of Marlboro cigarrettes for less than American citizens in the US can. That's just one example of tens of thousands of things available at the commissary or PX that are made in the US and shipped to bases overseas. Someone is picking up the tab for that transportation, and it's not the Japanese, or any other host country; it's US.

Supply lines alone must cost billions of dollars. Leases for bases in lots of countries costs huge money as well.

I say bring 'em all home. Put them up in base housing as has always been the case with US servicemembers based in the US. They'll need housing, cars, appliances, and food... millions of them. Their time can be divided between military training and community service.

That alone could be part of the jobs stimulus. The money saved can be used for healthcare or any other beneficial cause we can think of.

[hack89]

30. Sure - if you think a nuclear arms race in the Pacific is a good thing.

there are other issues besides economic ones. If we pull out, South Korea and Japan will become nuclear powers in a heart beat - what other choice do they have with China and North Korea? It would also trigger a massive conventional arms race. Do you want a repeat of the 1930's?

Pulling out will drastically change the geo-political balance in the region. Just how certain are you that it won't create a dangerous and uncertain atmosphere? How long, for example, will Taiwan remain an independent country? China is not a good neighbor - there are numerous potential flash points that could inadvertently lead to war.

[NNN0LHI]

22. Omoiyari Yosan

[The Northerner]

26. K&R n/t

[Major Hogwash]

27. Yeah, but didn't Colin Powell say that we never planted our flag in a country that we have invaded?

Like in Germany.
Or in Korea.
Or Iraq.
Or Afghanistan.
Or ____________. (fill in the blank)

Seems to me that Colin Powell lied when he said that.

[Boojatta]

28. Kick, because there are loose threads in the discussion.

[shanti]

31. i lived on one in the early 60's

yokota air base. we lived both on and off base at times. what memories....

[McCamy Taylor]

32. I thought we were there to discourage China and North Korea.

And the USSR back when there was one. I don't see us as occupiers, more like paid mercenaries. The Japanese and German economies have prospered, in large part, because they do not sink a gazillion dollars on military. We do it for them.

[Generic Other]

33. That is the problem with empire builders

The homeland suffers as the obligations of empire grow.

No reason we need to be in Korea or Japan unless they pay us which I very much doubt is the situation now. It is not our job to keep rich South Koreans safe from their hungry neighbors to the north. They should expend much more of their own personal incomes in their own defense instead of expecting the US to do it, and they should work to re-unify their country instead of keeping it perpetually divided.

Japan is not in danger from China or Russia since the end of the Cold War. They also can afford to defend themselves if they feel the need. We have no business occupying their territory as long as we have. Because that is what our bases in Japan really are -- an occupation force.

We have bases in Germany and UK too. Someday, some foreign country we attack is gonna turn on us and beat us back. Then when we are faced with foreign bases on our soil, we will see how heavy the yoke of empire falls on our necks.

Not in our interest to hasten the day as we seem bent on doing.