Rumsfeld gets an earful from Okinawa official

By Monica Moorehead, Workers World, 27 November 2003

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's trip to Okinawa took an unexpected, humiliating turn on Nov. 16. Dispensing with the usual protocol of airing any complaints in private, the governor of Okinawa, Keiichi Inamine, presented war criminal Rumsfeld with a petition of grievances regarding the oppressive behavior of the U.S. military, which has occupied the island of Okinawa since the end of World War II.

Rumsfeld was forced to endure a humi liating 40-minute session in which Inamine highlighted some of the deplor able acts carried out by U.S. forces against Okinawans and their right to sovereignty. This was done in full view of the Japanese and foreign press. The session would have gone on longer if the very uncomfortable Rumsfeld had not asked Inamine to stop.

Inamine told Rumsfeld and the invited press that incidents and accidents caused by U.S. military personnel, and environmental problems stemming from the bases, have created enormous impacts on people's lives, while the facilities became the outstanding hindrance to urban development and economic promotion. (New York Times, Nov. 17)

The petition reportedly states that 5,157 crimes were committed between 1972 and last December by U.S. troops, including the Pentagon's civilian employees and their dependents. According to the petition, these crimes include murder, robbery and sexual assault. In one of the few cases of atrocities brought to the light of day, in 1995, U.S. soldiers kidnapped and raped an Okinawan schoolgirl. The petition also includes concerns about noise pollution caused by the warplanes, the level of U.S. military training on the island and the U.S. Navy's disregard for marine wildlife.

Okinawa was totally controlled by the U.S. until 1972, when the island was reverted back to Japanese rule. About 58,000 U.S. troops are based throughout Japan, with the largest concentration stationed in Okinawa, including Marines.

Rumsfeld is visiting a number of Asian governments hoping to get their commitment to send troops to Iraq to bolster besieged U.S. forces bogged down by the growing resistance to colonial occupation there. Japan was to have sent troops, but announced a delay after major casualties were inflicted on Italian military police stationed in southern Iraq.

Due to a growing, militant, anti-occupation movement at home, the South Korean government has reduced the number of troops it plans to send to Iraq.