Scholars, peace activists call for closing bases on Okinawa

About 80 scholars, peace activists and others in the United States have sent a letter to the U.S. government, calling for closing American military bases on Okinawa and withdrawing American troops.

The group also demanded the U.S. government to fully reveal the circumstances and details on the murder case, in which a former Marine was arrested for allegedly murdering and abandoning the body of a 20-year-old woman. The letter said that the public sentiment on Okinawa has been poisoned by more than 70 years of crimes committed by the U.S. military and people related to them, and the existence of a large concentration of U.S. bases.

The letter also called on the U.S. government to start honest discussions with Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga to tackle the issues.

  • Slyck

    How about this group lets the JPs do their job investigating the murder of the young woman and wait until they get all the details and release them?
    Does this group actually believe the US government has any knowledge or details of this case that they are witholding??

  • agnosic1

    Blaming America for the Okinawa/Tokyo divide:

    “For more than three decades, historical memory controversies have been fought over Japanese school textbook content in both the domestic and international arenas. … In 2007, the most intense controversy has pitted the [Japanese] Ministry of Education against the residents and government of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. The issue exploded in March 2007 with the announcement that all references to military coercion in the compulsory mass suicides (shudan jiketsu) of Okinawan residents during the Battle of Okinawa were to be eliminated.”

    “Compulsory Mass Suicide, the Battle of Okinawa, and Japan’s Textbook Controversy”
    Aniya Masaaki, The Okinawa Times, and Asahi Shinbun
    apjjf[dot]org/-Aniya-Masaaki/2629/article.html

08:11 06 Dec , 2024