MR. HATOYAMA SHOULD FEEL HONORED...:

Humiliating Japan: America's dangerously flawed Asia policy (Gordon G. Chang, 10.30.09, Forbes)

As he takes Japan in new directions, Hatoyama is bumping up against Washington. For one thing, he wants to end Japan's eight-year-old refueling site in the Indian Ocean, which supports NATO operations in Afghanistan, as well as investigate secret arrangements reached in the early 1960s regarding the shipment and storage in Japan of American nuclear weapons. Most important, he is now trying to show Japan is an equal partner in the alliance by renegotiating a 2006 agreement to reorganize American forces in his country. A particular sore point is Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is located near residential areas on Okinawa. Simply put, the Japanese prime minister wants the base off the island, not merely transferred to another part of it.

The Futenma matter is extremely controversial. An overwhelming majority of Okinawans want the American military to leave, but the Pentagon is adamant about not reopening the deal involving the Air Station's relocation. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a visit to Japan last week, publicly shot down the concept of renegotiation in blunt words, embarrassing the Hatoyama government by calling its proposals "immensely complicated and counterproductive" and telling it to "move on." Washington would like to settle the spat before President Obama arrives in Japan on Nov. 12, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano has made it clear there will be no early end to the already nasty disagreement.

...the UR only treats our closest allies with contempt. If they were an enemy he would have announced the base was closing.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 31, 2009 6:22 AM