U.S. Pressures Japan to Remove Protest Camp in Northern Okinawa

Last December when our Veterans for Peace delegation went to Okinawa we visited several areas where the US is expanding bases and military training grounds.

One such area was in the northern part of the island called Takae where Camp Gonsalves, a.k.a Northern Training Area, of US Marine Corps is located.  Helipads for Army Osprey choppers are being expanded in the forested area that will surely impact the people, plants, animals, and fresh water.

It is a sparsely populated area but the local people have maintained vigil there daily and parked their cars in front of the gates to the training area.  In recent days the Japanese government, under pressure from the US military, sent in 1,000 police to remove the protest encampment.

As they were removing the people and the cars the police hit one of the protesting women in the face.  So it is clear that the government is now moving to get rough with the protests that have successfully slowed down the base expansion process.

All of this US military expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific is aimed at surrounding China and Russia in order to make it possible for the US agenda that calls for regime change in Beijing and Moscow.

Bruce