Senators: US military plans to reorganize forces in Japan are unworkable, unaffordable

Source: Associated Press

Senators: US military plans to reorganize forces in Japan are unworkable, unaffordable
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, May 11, 1:26 PM

WASHINGTON — Three influential U.S. senators say a planned reorganization of American forces in east Asia is unworkable and unaffordable.

The lawmakers say the Department of Defense should re-examine its plans for South Korea, Guam and the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where many locals oppose the U.S. troop presence.

The recommendations were made Wednesday by Michigan’s Carl Levin and Arizona’s John McCain, the two highest-ranking members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia.

They say a 2006 agreement with Japan is outdated and imposes an “enormous financial burden” on the U.S. ally as it recovers from a huge earthquake.




Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senators-us-military-plans-to-reorganize-forces-in-japan-are-unworkable-unaffordable/2011/05/11/AFOv4uqG_story.html

GTFO of Asia.

Today.

I heard a rumor that WWII was over.

It would impose an ""enormous financial burden" on the U.S. ally as it recovers from a huge earthquake."? WTF? Should we really care how much it would cost Japan to protect their country? How is Japan spending billions on relocating a base to please their citizens bad for us? Why should we give a rat's ass how much it would cost them to move a base? We're supposed to be "broke" due to a spending problem. How can plans that put the cost on the host countries be bad for us?

I give up. I give up on trying to apply logic to anything going on in D.C. I give up on the idea that we will find leadership to save our republic from complete and total collapse.

It seems as if you missed huge chunks of it. But it appears as if your lack of empathy got in the way. From the article...

"They flagged up three plans - the realignment of US forces in South Korea, the relocation of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and the construction of a new base in Okinawa to replace the ageing Futenma airbase.

"The significant estimated cost growth associated with some projects is simply unaffordable in today's increasingly constrained fiscal environment," Sen Levin said in the statement.

"Political realities in Okinawa and Guam, as well as the enormous financial burden imposed on Japan by the devastation resulting from the disastrous March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, also must be considered."

-It's not just Japan. And while they are footing a good portion of the new base, they aren't paying the whole cost.

Source: BBC News

12 May 2011 Last updated at 05:40 ET
US senators urge rethink on Okinawa base plan

Three top US senators have called for a review of a planned reorganisation of US forces in East Asia, including the Okinawa base relocation project.

The senators described the realignment plans as "unworkable and unaffordable".

Political realities in Okinawa plus the economic damage suffered by quake-hit Japan made the base relocation plan "unrealistic", they said.

The US and Japan want to build a new airbase in northern Okinawa but most of the island's residents oppose the plan.



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13372194

It would be horribly expensive, Okinawa residents have been opposed to the base for a long time (making it a negative for foreign relations), Japan has a long way to go to recover from the quake and tsunami - well, duh..... don't build the new base.