Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

September 22, 2009
Wall Street Journal – Asia
By Yuka Hayashi

As Japan’s new ruling party begins to question its military alliance with the U.S., one freshman lawmaker whose personal history reflects the longstanding ties between the two nations is already pressing the issue.

Denny Tamaki, a newly elected member of the Democratic Party of Japan, is the son of a local woman and a U.S. serviceman. His main goal is to sharply shrink the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, a remote southern island that hosts roughly half of some 45,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan.

“It’s about time the Japanese government let Okinawa go back to its original self,” says the former radio talk-show host, 49 years old. Despite his fondness for American music and movies, Mr. Tamaki argues it is time the two grew more distant. “I am an embodiment of Okinawa’s postwar history,” he says. “No one is more qualified to tackle the base issues.” …

The U.S. has used Japan as a primary host for its military presence in East Asia. The Japanese government spends roughly $2 billion a year to help cover the costs. The presence of U.S. forces let Japan keep its own military small and focused on self-defense, freeing up resources to help fuel its postwar boom. …

Mr. Tamaki was raised by his mother in Okinawa and knows little about his father. …

As he grew more involved in politics, he became increasingly aware of the hard feelings caused by the bases. Okinawa’s main island hosts 34 U.S. facilities that together take up about 20% of its land, leading to occasional clashes. A military helicopter crashed on a college campus near Futenma in 2004, and a series of attacks on local women by American soldiers caused an uproar. …

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125348661429226233.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Eurasianet.org
Deirdre Tynan
September 17, 2009

The US military is preparing for a worst-case scenario in Central Asia. The Pentagon is presently developing plans covering the potential deployment of elite Special Forces to Central Asian states other than Afghanistan.

In each of the Central Asian states, US Special Forces 3rd Group are preparing to conduct “foreign internal defense” missions — military shorthand for counter-insurgency operations fought by host nation troops with training and other forms of assistance provided by Washington.

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, currently consists of four operational battalions. At least one battalion will be deployed to Central Asia on every rotation of troops serving in Afghanistan.

According to a military handbook, Joint Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Foreign Internal Defense (FID), published under the auspices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2004, “the United States will normally consider FID support only if the following three conditions exist: the existing or threatened internal disorder threatens US national strategic goals; the threatened nation is capable of effectively using US assistance; and the threatened nation requests US assistance.”

It adds: “assistance will normally focus on civil-military operations (primarily, the provision of services to the local populace), psychological operations, communications and intelligence sharing, and logistic support.” …

The prospect of US forces carrying out foreign internal defense operations in Central Asia is generating mixed views. Some analysts described it as routine, while others call it risky. All agree, however, that Russia will be agitated by any deployment.

www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav091709.shtml

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philstar.com
September 19, 2009

The United States formally left the Manta military base in Ecuador yesterday via a 9.00 a.m. local time ceremony in which Ecuador took full control of the Pacific Coast facilities.

The Ecuador government formally resumed control of Manta, a military base on its Pacific coast, 10 years after was leased, rent-free, to the US military for anti-drug operations.

During the handover ceremony, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said that the exit of US soldiers was “a triumph for national sovereignty.”

He also said that the lease agreement, signed in 1999, had not been properly legalized because it had only been approved by then foreign minister Heinz Muller and the legislature’s foreign affairs committee, not by the full legislature nor all Ecuadorians.

He also made a call for nations to avoid relations “based on subordination” and foreign military bases. …

The 1999 agreement was slammed by Ecuadorian social and political organizations, who also denounced US personnel and the base for violating Ecuadorians’ human rights.

www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=506676&publicationSubCategoryId=200

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