User:Bque/United States Forces Japan

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Draft (United States Forces Japan/#United States presence debate)[edit]

Lead[edit]

U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in 2016.

As of May 2022, the stationing of U.S. military personnel at military facilities across Okinawa Island remains a hotly-contested and controversial issue, with the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma often being at the forefront of protests against the presence of U.S. military presence on the island.[1][2][3] Despite an agreement to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma first being reached by the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1996, progress to relocate the base has stalled due to widespread anti-base protests across Okinawa centering on concerns relating to crimes perpetrated by U.S. military personnel stationed on Okinawa and the existence of environmental pollution resulting from the construction, operation and potential relocation of U.S. military bases on Okinawa.[1][2][4][5]

Article body (expanding/renaming 'Pollution'): Environmental Concerns[edit]

More recently, environmental concerns have taken the forefront of the debate over the presence of U.S. military forces on the island of Okinawa.[6] Since the late 1990s, environmental concerns elevated by both local residents as well as larger Okinawan and Japanese environmental action groups and independent activists have often resulted in public protests and demonstrations against the relocation of existing U.S. military bases and the construction of new replacement facilities, which have been labelled by some as examples of "modern colonialism".[7][8][9] In particular, lingering environmental concerns over the disruption or destruction of coastal and marine habitats off the shores of Okinawa from construction, relocation and operation of U.S. military bases on Okinawa, has resulted in the protracted and continuing delayal of plans to relocate military facilities, such as Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.[1][4]

Protestor holding a "no base" sign opposing the relocation of MCAS Futenma.


Okinawa dugong lawsuit

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, initial plans to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a new facility located offshore in Henoko Bay were met with strong resistance after sightings of dugong were reported in areas surrounding territory earmarked for the relocated airbase.[10] A critically endangered species, dugong were traditionally fished and hunted throughout Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands.[10] This drew the attention of local, national and international environmental action groups, who raised concerns that land reclamation projects tied to the construction of a new offshore airbase in Henoko Bay would result in the destruction of nearby dugong habitats and coastal ecosystems.[11] Despite this, plans were set forth to continue ahead with the relocation of the base, notably, flouting the results of a 1997 referendum where the majority voted to reject a replacement facility.[10]

In opposition to this, in September 2003, a group of Okinawan, Japanese and U.S. environmental organizations filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Federal Court to protest the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.[10] This lawsuit, initially entitled Okinawa Dugong v. Rumsfeld, argued that the U.S. Department of Defense failed to consider the impacts that relocating the base would have upon the local dugong population, in turn, violating the U.S. National Historic Preservation Act.[11] This case was closed in January 2008; notably for the plaintiffs, it was ruled that the Department of Defense, by not considering the impacts of the relocated airbase upon the local dugong population, had in fact violated the National Historic Preservation Act, thus delaying the relocation of the base.[10]


Water contamination (expanding on existing sentence under the 'Pollution' header)

Concerns over water contamination have also exasperated recent tensions surrounding the presence of U.S. military bases in Okinawa.[12] In June 2020, following the announcement of an earlier leak of firefighting foam from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in April 2020, a water quality study conducted by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment published findings of elevated contamination levels of PFOS and PFOA at 37 different water sources near U.S. military bases and industrial areas which exceeded provisional national targets.[13] Further incidents concerning the release of the cancer-inducing toxins also occurred in August 2021, further worsening tensions over the presence of 'alarming' levels of these toxic chemicals.[14][15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "50 Years After US Occupation, Okinawa Continues to Resist Military Bases". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  2. ^ a b "Okinawa's vocal anti-US military base movement". www.lowyinstitute.org. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  3. ^ Williams, Brad (2013). "The YIMBY Phenomenon in Henoko, Okinawa". Asian Survey. 53 (5): 958–978. doi:10.1525/as.2013.53.5.958. ISSN 0004-4687.
  4. ^ a b Chanlett-Avery, Emma (2012). The U.S. military presence in Okinawa and the Futenma base controversy. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. OCLC 807200430.
  5. ^ Crissey, Etsuko Takushi (2017-06-30), "The US Military in Okinawa", Okinawa's GI Brides, University of Hawai'i Press, retrieved 2022-08-01
  6. ^ Morris-Suzuki, Tessa (2000). "Under the umbrella: co-existence with the military is not so peaceful for the people and the environment of Okinawa, Japan". New Internationalist (325): 34–35.
  7. ^ Nishiyama, Hidefumi (2022-05-05). "Base borders: Militarisation and (post-)colonial bordering in Okinawa". Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space: 239965442210972. doi:10.1177/23996544221097232. ISSN 2399-6544.
  8. ^ Nishiyama, Hidefumi (2022-03-15). "Base Built in the Middle of 'Rice Fields': A Politics of Ignorance in Okinawa". Geopolitics. 27 (2): 546–565. doi:10.1080/14650045.2020.1801646. ISSN 1465-0045.
  9. ^ Matsumura, Wendy (2020). "Postwar Reconfigurations of the US Empire and Global Military Occupation: Struggles against Enclosure in Okinawa". Journal of Historical Sociology. 33 (1): 149–163. doi:10.1111/johs.12261. ISSN 0952-1909.
  10. ^ a b c d e Tanji, Miyume (2008). "U.S. COURT RULES IN THE "OKINAWA DUGONG" CASE: Implications for U.S. Military Bases Overseas". Critical Asian Studies. 40 (3): 475–487. doi:10.1080/14672710802274094. ISSN 1467-2715.
  11. ^ a b Taylor, Jonathan (2007). "Environment and Security Conflicts: The U.S. Military in Okinawa". The Geographical Bulletin (48): 3–13.
  12. ^ "US Military Bases Are Poisoning Okinawa". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  13. ^ "Cancer inducing toxins found in water sources near US bases in Japan: study". Mainichi Daily News. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  14. ^ "U.S. Military Accountability for PFAS Contamination on Bases in Okinawa". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  15. ^ "'Alarming' Levels of 'Forever Chemicals' Found in Water Near US Bases in Okinawa". Common Dreams. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
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