3/27 LIBYA "U.S. humanitarian intervention, not war" & the Japan Connection
Liz Burbank
lizbu...@speakeasy.net http://www.burbankdigest.com/node/346
"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor
in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood.
But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the
policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along...
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding
of their leaders. That is easy. All you have to tell them is that
they are being attacked and denounce the peacemakers for lack of
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same
in any country."
Hermann Goering, President of the Reichstag, Nazi Party, and Luftwaffe
Commander in Chief
Modern imperialist wars, the continuation of capitalist
political-economics, are waged to expand imperialist global
political-economic power, using homemade pretexts like 911, Iraq
WMD, "al-qaeda terrorists", Niger yellowcake, ad infinitum
Operation Odyssey Dawn limited humanitarian intervention, not war
already arming them via Egypt and other compliant 'partners' US
plan to arm Libyan opposition
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/03/25/47971072.html
The US is looking for a legal loophole to supply the Libyan opposition
with arms, said British TV Channel Sky News report Friday.The recent
UN Security Council resolution on Libya rules out arms supplies to
any party in the Libyan conflict. According to US diplomats, such
supplies will be possible if the opposition needs arms exclusively
to protect itself from the Gaddafi Army. The UK and France are
planning similar moves.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/message/49750
R2P: Imperialist war end-run around national sovereignty for global
domination end game A NEW LEASE ON LIFE FOR HUMANITARIANISM Stewart
Patrick, March 24, 2011
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67674/stewart-patrick/a-new-lease-on-l
ife-for-humanitarianism
Operation Odyssey Dawn to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya on March
19 was a vindication of the fragile responsibility to protect (RtoP)
norm....The Obama administration was correct to champion RtoPs basic
principle: state sovereignty is not a license for a dictator to
murder his citizens.When it was endorsed unanimously by heads of
state at the 2005 World Summit, RtoP was the biggest challenge to
state sovereignty in three and a half centuries. It makes a states
presumed right of nonintervention contingent on its ability and
willingness to protect its citizens and threatens collective, timely,
and decisive action if it does not...
The responsibility to protect implies a responsibility to rebuild
once the shooting stops. Although Resolution 1973 explicitly rejects
foreign occupation of any part of Libyan territory, stabilizing the
country for the long term will likely require a multinational
peacekeeping force. Ideally it would be authorized by the United
Nations and include significant contingents from the Arab world.
Such long-term tasks as reconstructing Libyas economy and political
institutions would only be possible with major commitments of
financial resources from the European Union, the World Bank, the
African Development Bank, wealthy Gulf sheikhdoms, and the United
States.
In a seminal Foreign Affairs article in 2002, Gareth Evans, then
president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, and Mohamed
Sahnoun, special adviser on Africa to the UN secretary-general,
argued that any military intervention to support RtoP must satisfy
six principles: the cause must be just, the intentions of the
interveners must be pure, the use of force should be a last resort,
it should be sanctioned by the Security Council, it must be undertaken
with proportional means, and it should have reasonable prospects
of success.
The imposition of the no-fly zone in Libya has met the first five
of these criteria. But its ultimate success will depend on meeting
the sixth. To do that, the United States and its allies must show
more willingness to remove the Qaddafi regime and then rebuild a
war-torn Libya.
Libya rebels coordinating with West on air assault
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-fg-libya-rebels-20110324,0,3195209.st
ory
Leaders of the opposition national council, in Benghazi and Europe,
are helping allied commanders identify targets for strikes. Allied
officials walk a fine line as the U.N. mandate bars them from
actively helping the rebels in their goal to oust Moammar
Kadafi....Leaders of the opposition national council in rebel-controlled
eastern Libya say they are making regular, secure satellite telephone
connections with allied military representatives in France and
elsewhere in Europe to help commanders identify targets for the
U.S.-led air assault...
"There is communication between the Provisional National Council
and U.N.
assembled forces, we work on letting them know what areas need to
be bombarded," spokesman Ahmed Khalifa said in an interview
Wednesday....
evidence of cooperation between the Libyan opposition and the
international military alliance that is waging air and missile
strikes on Moammar Kadafi's command and control centers as well as
other military targets...The Obama White House and Pentagon say the
United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing military
action in Libya does not include airstrikes specifically to aid
rebel forces. The White House declined to comment on whether allied
commanders had established regular contact with the rebels to help
identify military targets. Pentagon spokesman, Marine Col. Dave
Lapan, said there was "no formal or informal contact" between the
rebels and American forces. But Navy Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber, chief
of staff of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, said though there was
no official collaboration, information was being passed from the
coalition to the rebels. "We have told opposition forces how to
maneuver, and we have also told Moammar Kadafi's forces what they
were expected to do in accordance with the U.N. Security Council
resolution"...
In addition, American officials say CIA operatives and equipment
were sent into rebel-held areas to monitor the opposition forces'
activity even before the air bombardment began....
Council spokesmen said the rebels are receiving light weapons,
ammunition, supplies and communications equipment from other nations
but have declined to name the donors. U.S. officials acknowledged
they have been weighing whether to provide weapons, ammunition and
other equipment to the rebels...Reports suggest the Saudis and
Egyptians have been providing arms. Though U.S.
officials could not confirm, they say it is plausible.
Gates Reaffirms U.S. Support of Egypt 3/23/11
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63280 -Rapid change
in the region holds potential new opportunities for the United
States, Gates said.
-Gates will meet tomorrow with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi,
the nation's commander in chief and chairman of the Egyptian Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces.
CAIRO: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates met with Egyptian leaders
here today, a visit officials said is designed to reaffirm U.S.
support and advance the nations' defense partnership.America's
historic relationship with Egypt is a cornerstone of U.S. foreign
policy in the Middle East and North Africa. The U.S.-Egyptian
military partnership has grown over 30 years, and is an integral
part of the way our two countries pursue our common interests and
advance stability in an often tumultuous region". Rapid change in
the region holds potential new opportunities for the United States,
Gates said. "I would point to the longstanding relationship between
the United States military and the Egyptian military and the
constructive role the Egyptian military has played in the events
of the past couple of months. For existing governments that undertake
a process of reform that we work with today, those relationships
will continue."...http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/message/49708
3/24/11 Egypt's martial law criminalizes protests, strikes
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/126329/20110324/egypt-protest-mubarak-army-gag
-media-ban-protest-strike-criminalize-military-generals-emergency.htm
Egyptian government military cabinet law criminalizing strikes and
protest marches in the country stipulates imprisonment of one year
and a fine of up to 500,000 Egyptian pounds ($84,000 dollars for
anyone who incites, promotes or participates in a protest or strike
that "disrupts private or public work'....
a turn of events that looks like the Egyptian people are back to
square one - the army-led government has not lifted the emergency
but stressed the law will be in effect till the emergency lasts.
Egyptians who risked their lives trying to depose a ruler who ran
a police state and never lifted emergency for more than three
decades, are fuming... about the detention and torture of activists
by the military rulers who replaced the Mubarak regime... also
reports the country's media is still under gag orders. In effect,
the long-entrenched military rule in Egypt hasnt changed....
Libyan operation continues as hundreds die and thousands flee 26
March, 2011, http://rt.com/news/libya-nato-refugees-victims/
...At least 114 people were killed in the first four days of the operation .
At a short overnight press conference, the Libyan government
spokesperson announced at least 114 people have been killed and 445
injured in the first four days of the coalitions week long series
of air strikes.The American military announced the coalition has
fired 16 Tomahawk missiles and flown 153 air sorties in the last
24 hours, and over 300 thousand have fled the country.
Operation Unified Protector launched Wednesday involving US, UK,
Canada, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands and
Greece, supplied an additional 25 warships and submarines, as well
as 50 fighter jets to help enforce a naval blockade and prevent
weapons and mercenaries from entering Libya.
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-C49503BD-32FAF1FF/natolive/news_71773.htm
Faced with even domestic opposition u.s. creates new 'expand the
war' drama, like the always timely and reliable "al-qaeda" and
other "terrorist" tapes Libyan Woman Struggles to Tell Media of Her
Rape
A Libyan woman burst into the hotel housing foreign press in Tripoli
Saturday morning to tell journalists she had been raped and beaten
by members of Col.
Muammar el-Qaddafis militia. After struggling for nearly an hour
to resist removal by Colonel Qaddafis security forces...A wild
scuffle began as journalists tried to interview, photograph and
protect her... she was dragged away from the hotel screaming...For
the members of the foreign news media here at the invitation of the
government of Colonel Qaddafi and largely confined to the Rixos
Hotel except for official outings the episode was a vivid reminder
of the brutality of the Libyan government and the presence of its
security forces even among the hotel staff...
'al-qaeda'/mujahadeen, created by US to defeat Soviets in Afghanistan
as Brzezinski brags, like the 'rebels', work for US one way or
another, as propaganda cypher and/or death squads Libyan Rebel
Commander Admits Fighters Have Al-Qaeda Links Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi,
the Libyan rebel leader, said patriotic jihadists are on the front
lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27768.htm Al-Qaeda
branch in Yemen planning terror strikes, US says
An Al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen may be close to launching a terrorist
attack, according to US intelligence agencies, the Washington Post
reported Saturday.
Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center,
last month described AQAP as 'probably the most significant risk
to the US homeland.'
By building a dozen forward bases or establishments in Tunisia,
Morocco, Algeria and other African nations, the U.S. will gradually
establish a network of military bases to cover the entire continent
and make essential preparations for docking an aircraft carrier
fleet in the region. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
with the U.S. at the head had [in 2006] carried out a large-scale
military exercise in Cape Verde, a western African island nation,
with the sole purpose of controlling the sea and air corridors of
crude oil extracting zones and monitoring how the situation is with
oil pipelines operating there. Africa Command represents a vital,
crucial link for the US adjustment of its global military deployment.
At present, it is moving the gravity of its forces in Europe eastward
and opening new bases in Eastern Europe.The present US global
military redeployment centers mainly on an arc of instability from
the Caucasus, Central and Southern Asia down to the Korean Peninsula,
and so the African continent is taken as a strong point to prop up
the US global strategy. Therefore, AFRICOM facilitates the United
States advancing on the African continent, taking control of the
Eurasian continent and proceeding to take the helm of the entire
globe.
Libyan War And Control Of The Mediterranean 3/25/11 bv Rick Rozoff
The Mediterranean Sea is the main battle front in the world currently,
superseding the Afghanistan-Pakistan war theater, and the empire
of the new third millennium that of the U.S., the worlds sole
military superpower in the words of President Barack Obama in his
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, and its NATO partners is
completing the transformation of the Mediterranean into its mare
nostrum....The defeat and conquest, directly or by proxy, of Libya
would secure a key outpost for the Pentagon and NATO on the
Mediterranean Sea... consolidation of U.S. control over North Africa
would have more than just regional repercussions, important as they
are.
Shortly after the inauguration of U.S. Africa Command [AFRICOM],
Lin Zhiyuan, deputy director of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army
Academy of Military Sciences, wrote the following [Peoples Daily,
February 26, 2007]:
By building a dozen forward bases or establishments in Tunisia,
Morocco, Algeria and other African nations, the U.S. will gradually
establish a network of military bases to cover the entire continent
and make essential preparations for docking an aircraft carrier
fleet in the region. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
with the U.S. at the head had [in 2006] carried out a large-scale
military exercise in Cape Verde, a western African island nation,
with the sole purpose of controlling the sea and air corridors of
crude oil extracting zones and monitoring how the situation is with
oil pipelines operating there. Africa Command represents a vital,
crucial link for the US adjustment of its global military deployment.
At present, it is moving the gravity of its forces in Europe eastward
and opening new bases in Eastern Europe.The present US global
military redeployment centers mainly on an arc of instability from
the Caucasus, Central and Southern Asia down to the Korean Peninsula,
and so the African continent is taken as a strong point to prop up
the US global strategy. Therefore, AFRICOM facilitates the United
States advancing on the African continent, taking control of the
Eurasian continent and proceeding to take the helm of the entire
globe.
The attack on Libya followed by slightly more than three weeks a
move in the parliament of the Eastern Mediterranean island nation
of Cyprus to drag that state into NATOs Partnership for Peace program
[3], which if ultimately successful would leave only three of twenty
nations (excluding microstate Monaco) on or in the Mediterranean
Sea not full members of NATO or beholden to it through partnership
entanglements, including those the Mediterranean Dialogue (Algeria,
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia):
Libya, Lebanon and Syria.
NATO membership and partnerships obligate the affected governments
to open their countries to the U.S. military. For example, less
than a year after becoming independent Montenegro had already joined
the Partnership for Peace and was visited by then-commander of U.S.
Naval Forces Europe Admiral Harry Ulrich and the submarine tender
Emory S. Land in an effort to provide training and assistance for
the Montenegrin Navy and to strengthen the relationship between the
two navies. [4]. The next month four NATO warships, including the
USS Roosevelt guided missile destroyer, docked in Montenegros Tivat
harbor.
If the Libyan model is duplicated in Syria as increasingly seems
to be the case, and with Lebanon already blockaded by warships from
NATO nations since 2006 in what is the prototype for what NATO will
soon replicate off the coast of Libya, the Mediterranean Sea will
be entirely under the control of NATO and its leading member, the
U.S.
Cyprus in the only European Union member and indeed the only European
nation (except for microstates) that is for the time being not a
NATO member or partner, and Libya is the only African nation bordering
the Mediterranean not a member of NATOs Mediterranean Dialogue
partnership program.
Libya is also one of only five of Africas 54 countries that have
not been integrated into, which is to say subordinated to, the new
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
The others are:
Sudan, being balkanized, as Libya may also soon be.
Ivory Coast, now embroiled in what is for all intents a civil war
with the West backing the armed groups of Alassane Ouattara against
standing president Laurent Gbagbo and under the threat of foreign
military intervention, likely by the AFRICOM- and NATO-supported
West African Standby Force, possibly with direct Western involvement.
[5] Zimbabwe, among likely candidates for the next U.S.-NATO Operation
Odyssey Dawn-type military intervention.
Eritrea, which borders Djibouti where some 5,000 U.S. and French
troops are based, was involved in armed border conflict with its
neighbor three years ago in which French military forces intervened
on behalf of Djibouti.
THE JAPAN CONNECTION (added by the digest)
Djibouti houses the only known U.S. military base on the African
continent and is therefore highly significant to Pentagons strategy
aimed at dominating the Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Aden and the
Arabian Peninsula.
The Financial Times reported that Washingtons camp is an outpost
for the U.S.
Africa Command, Africom. (Feb. 20)
http://www.iacenter.org/africa/djibouti-022511/
editorial: Is SDF base at Djibouti an option against piracy?
Japans base construction in Djibouti is in accordance with the U.S.
military strategy.
7/20/10 http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=1446
The second report (2007) on the Japan-U.S. alliance, drafted by
former U.S.
deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and others, demands Japan
play a leading part. The latest U.S. quadrennial defense review
published in February called on governments of other nations to
cooperate in defending sea lanes from piracy. A government source
last year stated U.S. forces wanted Japan to have facilities on
its own in order to expand operations. Construction of a base under
these circumstances is an unmistakable strengthening of Japans
military operations abroad at U.S. request...
The status of forces agreement which the Japanese government concluded
with the Djibouti government in 2009 in regard to sending SDF troops
to Djibouti has several problems. The agreement virtually imposes
on Djibouti Japans extra-territorial rights, such as the right for
the SDF to take necessary means to protect the base and for Japan
to exercise rights in any criminal trial involving an SDF member.
Other countries will inevitably be alarmed at Japan strengthening
its military presence abroad. The government should stop the base
construction in Djibouti, withdraw the SDF from there and help to
solve the piracy problem by supporting reconstruction efforts in
which Japan can constructively contribute.
Japan to build navy base in Horn of Africa May 11, 2010 ,
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/05/11/Japan-to-build-
navy-base-in-Gulf-of-Aden/
Japan plans to establish a $40 million strategic naval base in the
Horn of Africa state of Djibouti, its first overseas military base
since the Second World War, where U.S. and French forces are
deployed... is expected to be completed in 2011..Japanese personnel
are currently housed in the U.S. base at Camp Lemmonier, a former
French Foreign Legion installation.. the only known U.S. military
base in Africa, is occupied by the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn
of Africa, a counter-terrorism force deployed there after Sept. 11,
2001...China also has several warships attached to the international
fleet, and has expressed interest in a naval base in the Gulf of
Aden....
July 13, 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy held a summit in Paris to which he
invited heads of state of the EUs 27 members and 17 non-EU Mediterranean
countries to launch a Mediterranean Union. Muammar Gaddafi announced
his nation would boycott the gathering, denouncing the initiative
as one aimed at dividing both Africa and the Arab world:We shall
have another Roman empire and imperialist design. There are imperialist
maps and designs that we have already rolled up.
We should not have them again. [1] The unprecedented summit was
held with the intention of shift[ing] Europes strategic focus towards
the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans. [2] Less than three
years later Sarkozys Mirage and Rafale warplanes were bombing Libyan
government targets, initiating an ongoing war led by France, the
United States, Britain to overthrow the Gaddafi government and
implant a pliant replacement.
The Mediterranean has been historys most strategically important
sea, the only one whose waves lap the shores of three continents.
Control of the sea has been fought over by the Persian, Alexandrian,
Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Spanish, British and
Napoleonic empires, in part or in whole, and by Mussolinis Italy
and Hitlers Germany. Since the end of World War 2, the U.S. has
been the major military power in the sea. Washington established
Naval Forces Mediterranean in 1946, which in 1950 became the U.S.
Sixth Fleet with headquarters in the Mediterranean port city of
Naples....
U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, also based in Naples, is assigned
to the Sixth Fleet and provides forces for both U.S. European Command
and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)...Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief
of Naval Operations (the highest-ranking U.S. Navy officer), recently
said the permanent U.S. military presence in the Mediterranean
allowed the Pentagon, which already was positioned for operations
over Libya, to launch Odyssey Dawn on March 19.
The need, for example in the opening rounds, for the Tomahawk
strikes, the shooters were already in place. They were already
loaded, and that went off as we expected it would. Thats what you
get when you have a global Navy thats forward all the time.Were
there, and when the guns go off, were ready to conduct combat
operations. [6]
March 22 General Carter Ham, the new chief of U.S. AFRICOM, at U.S.
air base in Ramstein, Germany met with British, French and Italian
air force leaders to evaluate the bombing campaign in Libya. He
praised cooperation with NATO partners before the war began, stating,
You cant bring 14 different nations together without having prepared
for this before. [7] As AFRICOM's commander was in Germany, Defense
Secretary Gates was in Egypt with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein
Tantawi, commander in chief of the Egyptian armed forces and chairman
of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, to coordinate the
campaign against Libya. The Pentagon website reported March 23 that
forces attached to AFRICOMs Task Force Odyssey Dawn had flown 336
air sorties, 108 of them launching strikes and 212 conducted by the
U.S. The operations included 162 Tomahawk cruise missile attacks.
Admiral Roughead stated that he envisioned no problem in keeping
operations going, as the Tomahawks will be replaced from the existing
inventory of 3,200...
Far more is at stake in the war with Libya than control of Africas
largest proven oil reserves and subjugating the last North African
nation not yet under the thumb of the U.S. and NATO.... beyond
domination of the Mediterranean Sea region.
1) Daily Telegraph, July 10, 2008 2) Daily Telegraph, July 14, 2008
3) Cyprus: U.S. To Dominate Europe, Mediterranean Through NATO
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/cyprus-u-s-to-dominate-all-europe-
mediterranean-through-nato 4) United States European Command, May
24, 2007 5) Ivory Coast: Testing Ground For U.S.-Backed African
Standby Force Stop NATO, January 23, 2011
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/ivory-coast-testing-ground-for-u-s
-backed-african-standby-force 6) U.S. Department of Defense, March
23, 2011 7) U.S. Air Forces in Europe, March 23, 2011 U.S. Department
of Defense, March 23, 2011 9) Peoples Daily, February 26, 2007
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200702/26/eng20070226_352530.html
"...a stable and prosperous Japan is the key to U.S. security
interests in Asia..."
Japan went from #2 power behind US, ahead of China in the 1970s
until mid-90's. Several bad recessions later, [post monumental US
savings & loan scheme, prior to its 2007 deep structural and financial
crisis that Bush & Obama rescued with many trillions of working
peoples money/debt]. US insisted on 'helping' Japan weather the
storm of its 1990s recession ...aka deepening Japan's dependence &
US domination
# Assist the Japanese leadership. The Bush Administration should
assemble a group of key economic and financial advisers to work
with their counterparts in Japan to assist in financial reform.
This group can provide key lessons learned from America's own savings
and loan crisis in the 1980s and assist in the technical aspects
of implementing new policies.
# Communicate U.S. priorities to Japan. The Bush Administration
must make clear to the Japanese leadership that Washington will not
overlook any lapses in financial, economic, and political reform
in exchange for Tokyo's support of the American war on terrorism.
While Japanese support in the war effort is vital, repairing the
Japanese economy must take priority; a stable and prosperous Japan
is the key to U.S. security interests in Asia.
Addressing the Looming Financial Crisis in Japan, March 26, 2002
by Balbina Hwang, Ph.D. and Brett Schaefer Balbina Y. Hwang is
Policy Analyst for Northeast Asia in the Asian Studies Center, and
Brett D. Schaefer is Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory
Affairs in the Center for International Trade and Economics, at The
Heritage Foundation.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2002/03/addressing-the-looming-finan
cial-crisis-in-japan
Japanese Military Joins US--NATO In Africa By Rick Rozoff
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/japanese-military-joins-u-s-and-na
to-in-horn-of-africa
Kyodo News, July 31, 2009 disclosed that The U.S.asked Japan to
build its own facilities to carry out full-fledged operations,...
for all practical purposes Djibouti is not only AFRICOM HQs but
also US - led NATO HQs in Africa....Japans destroyers off the coast
of Somalia and its first foreign military base post-World War2 in
Djibouti are in line with the geostrategic plans of North America
and Europe... permanent land, naval and air bases in the region for
use in armed conflicts on the African continent.....
Djibouti rests at the confluence of the Red Sea and the Gulf of
Aden, across from strife-torn Yemen, and borders the northwest
corner of equally conflict-ridden Somalia. The narrow span of water
separating it from Yemen is the gateway for all maritime traffic
passing between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean via the
Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea....
Japan to build navy base in Djibout, Horn of Africa 5/11/10
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/05/11/Japan-to-build-
navy-base-in-Gulf-of-Aden/
DJIBOUTI, Djibouti, May 11 (UPI) -- Japan plans to establish a $40
million strategic naval base in the Horn of Africa state of Djibouti,
its first overseas military base since the Second World War, where
U.S. and French forces are deployed... The new base is expected to
be completed in 2011 and will include an airfield for Lockheed
Martin P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft of Japan's military and
a permanent port facility.
Japanese personnel are currently housed in accommodations rented
from the U.S.
base at Camp Lemmonier, a former French Foreign Legion installation
near Djibouti's airport. The camp, the only U.S. military base in
Africa, is occupied by the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa,
a counter-terrorism force deployed there after the Sept. 11, 2001
China, which also has several warships attached to the international
fleet, has also expressed interest in establish a naval base in the
Gulf of Aden. As with the Japanese, resupply and maintenance is
difficult because of the vast distances between the region and their
ships' home ports. Japanese naval units, including missile destroyers
and maritime patrol planes have been operating in the Gulf of Aden
since 2009.
Deteriorating Political Atmosphere in Djibouti Sparks Turmoil 6/8/10
United Business Media:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deteriorating-political-atmosphere-in
-djibouti-sparks-turmoil-95875724.html
New developments in the strategically important Republic of Djibouti
underscore the deepening political crisis that threatens the security
and stability of the volatile Horn of Africa sub-region as a whole.
Djibouti, which hosts American and French military bases, is currently
undergoing internal upheaval unseen in the country's 33 years of
independence....During his first Africa trip, U.S. President Barack
Obama said: "Make no mistake:
history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those
who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa
doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions."...Djibouti
entered into new agreements with the U.S. and with Japan for a new
military base... President Guelleh's cozy relations including defense
ties with the Iranian regime places the Republic of Djibouti at a
dangerous crossroads with its Western allies...The international
community must act today to save Djibouti and the Horn of Africa
before it's too late.
Japan-U.S. alliance and SDF - Secret pact - US control part 5 7/22/10
http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/feature_articles/index.php?id=26
U.S. forces in Korea were supposed to give back the right to command
wartime operations to Korean troops in 2012. However, the US changed
its mind in June and extended the term of command for another three
years. The wartime command is a serious matter related to national
sovereignty. In Japan, there is no such provision existing between
Japan and the United States. In fact, there is a secret agreement.
Alliance of Subordination Where is Japan-U.S. alliance heading?
(final Part VI) September 04,2010,
http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/feature_articles/index.php?id=41
Strategy for Sea of peace
Since its inception in 1951 to date, the Japan -- U.S. alliance has
operated as a lever for military interventionism, having nothing
to do with Japans defense. Japan turned itself into a U.S. military
stronghold initially during the Korean War, then during the Vietnam
War, the Gulf War, and the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, in
which the U.S. forces took the lives of many innocent civilians.
Japanese people are forced to bear the cost of this alliance. They
have suffered from the expropriation of land, the incessant noise
of aircraft, the repeated accidents, and the frequent crimes committed
by servicemen... they pay about 60 billion yen every year to
comfortably maintain the U.S. forces stationed in Japan.
Okinawans have regarded this as an injustice and only 7 % support
the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty system (Mainichi, Ryukyu Shimpo,
opinion poll May 31, 2010). The time has come for the Japanese
people to rethink whether or not it is legitimate to continue to
pay such costs to maintain the alliance.
Obviously, the Japan-U.S. alliance runs counter to the establishment
of peace and true security in Asia. At the same time, true peace
has yet to be established in Northeast Asia. Then, how should a
current for peace be created?
During the Six-Party Talks in regard to North Korea, agreements
have been made to establish a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula, and the
creation of a structure of peace on the peninsula with a normalization
of Japan-North Korea relations.
The only way to create peace and mutual security in the region is
to resume the Six-Party Talks.Consultations with China between both
defense officials are underway as an immediate step to prevent
contingencies arising over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands
in the seas off Okinawa. ASEAN member nations are discussing finding
peaceful ways to settle disputes among China, Taiwan, and Southeast
Asia over the sovereignty of the Spratly Islands in the South China
Sea. In the same way, it is essential for Northeast Asian nations
to plan a strategy to turn the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan
into a sea of peace.
What is more, a fundamental step in peace-building efforts should
be to promote disarmament. If Japan takes a position to reduce its
military budget which now stands at 5 trillion yen, it can contribute
to ending the arms race among Japan, the United States, and China.
In a speech August 3, 2010, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii
Kazuo proposed three points, the first is the call for an end to
causing military tensions and vicious spirals based on the premise
that any military provocation should be responded to through military
actions. The other two points propose the need to develop a framework
for dialogue and confidence-building, as well as for peacefully
settling disputes, and the need for Japan-China and U.S.-China
relations to deepen economic ties as well as ties between peoples....
Today, military alliances are anachronisms. If peace-building
initiatives in Northeast Asia are to progress, a call for abrogating
the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty will become more persuasive than
ever...Japan with its pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution will
be able to take a creative path of security-building only when it
moves away from the obsession of upholding the Japan-U.S. Security
Treaty as sacrosanct. (End of the serial)
BACKGROUND: the continuing resistance to US military domination is
not included in this excerpt from the 2004 report U.S. Military in
Mainland Japan and Okinawa Ichiyo Muto, Peoples Plan Study Group
Sunrise Shinjyuku 3F, 2-4-15 Okubo, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0072
JAPAN Tel/Fax: +81-3-5273-8362 Email: pp...@jca.apc.org URL:
http://www.jca.apc.org/ppsg/
http://www.jca.apc.org/wsf_support/2004doc/WSFJapUSBaseRepoFinalAll.html#U.S.
_Military_Presence
There are approximately 90 U.S. military facilities including major
military bases throughout mainland Japan and Okinawa, with an area
total of 3,130,000 sq.meters, 75% of which are in Okinawa. They are
concentrated in a few areas (prefectures), 37 in Okinawa, 15 in
Kanagawa, 11 in Nagasaki, and 7 in Tokyo.
About 52,000 U.S. troops are stationed in these bases, 26,000 in
mailand and 25,000 in Okinawa (2001). In mainland Japan, the largest
contingent is the air force with 6,600 and that in Okinawa marines
(15,500).
The U.S. armed forces in Japan, together with U.S. forces in South
Korea, are subjected to the Pacific Command located in Hawaii though
the Command located at Yokota Airbase in Tokyo also functions as
an auxiliary command for the forces deployed all over Japan. The
forces deployed to Japan are not a separate complete military unit
but integral part of the Pacific Force as the largest of the four
U.S. joint forces with a vast jurisdiction extending from the U.S.
western coast and the whole of the Pacific Ocean through the Indian
Ocean to the eastern coasts of Africa.
US Wars in which Okinawa Bases were used as Mission Launching Bases:
Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq War.
(During the occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Iran, C-130 Transport
planes were sent from Okinawa in the hostage rescue operation...which
failed.)
1960 Security Treaty and SOFA
Defeating Japan in WWII in 1945, the United States, placed Japan
under occupation, took over Japanese military bases and used them
as the frontline bases of the Cold War. These bases were intensely
used in the 1950-53 Korean War as the attack posts in the immediate
rear of the war front. The U.S. in the first years of occupation
wanted to demilitarize Japan as its potential military adversary
and drafted the postwar pacifist Constitution which was welcomed
by Japanese people, but it reversed its policy by 1950 and ordered
remilitarization and created a police reserve force that later
developed into the worlds budgetary second largest Self-Defense
Forces.
The U.S. placed Okinawa under its direct military rule, willfully
confiscated Okinawan peoples land for construction of huge strategic
bases in main island of Okinawa and nearby Iejima Island, centering
on the Kadena airfield.
In 1951, the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed, ending occupation
for mainland Japan in 1952, but that treaty separated Okinawa from
Japanese sovereignty and surrendered it to U.S. military rule.
Okinawa remained U.S.
military colony until 1972 when it was reverted to Japan. Simultaneously
another treaty called Japan-U.S. security treaty was signed, allowing
continued presence of U.S military forces in the Japanese territory.
U.S.
continued to hold and freely use the bases secured under occupation.
The 1952 security treaty was revised in 1960... for the purpose of
contributing to the security of Japan and the maintenance of
international peace and security in the Far East, the United States
is granted the use of its land, air, and naval forces of facilities
and areas in Japan. This treaty is up to now the legal ground of
the stationing of U.S. forces and U.S. use of bases in Japan.
Simultaneously with the security treaty, the status of force agreement
was made, giving privileges and prerogatives to the U.S. military
personnel and use of Japanese facilities. Though SOFA states that
the U.S.
bears all expenditures incurred by the maintenance of U.S. armed
forces in Japan, the Japanese government since 1987 began to meet
increasing portions of U.S. costs, reaching more than $6 billion
in 2001 in host nation support.[...]
====
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