Message from Okinawa

Residents of Okinawa know that their island has a special place on the geopolitical map of the world -- perhaps too special. Situated approximately 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, midway between the mainland and Taiwan -- Okinawa is the most strategic U.S. military outpost in Asia with Taiwan, China and Korea all in sight.

Since the end of the Pacific War (1941-1945), the islands have come to be known in Japan as a 'war waiting room' or 'armistice warehouse.' And this is not without reason: Half of the 47,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, including a full Marine corps division and a regional air force, live on Okinawa -- home as well to roughly 75 percent of U.S. military facilities in the area.

Suffice to say, most Okinawans are fed up with being the Pentagon's lynchpin of its security plans for East Asia. They want the U.S. troops, or at least many of them, to leave and they made that perfectly clear in a referendum on the issue on Sunday.

Weariness over the continued U.S. presence on the island turned into outrage last September with the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen.

The referendum was organized by local authorities after the Supreme Court late last month ordered governor Masahide Ota to sign documents allowing Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to force local residents to lease their land for military use.

Ota, along with 35 other landowners, has so far refused to sign the documents mandating renewal of the leases. The governor is pressing for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops by 2015. One contract has already expired and others are due to expire next year.

Most importantly, however, the behavior of U.S. forces stationed there must be closely monitored, taking into account the feelings of Okinawans. Perhaps a cue can be taken from a senior citizen who spoke to an Inter Press Service correspondent:

"American soldiers behave as if Japan was still occupied by the U.S. government. Since 1945, I have seen with my own eyes how the Americans lorded over the island, how they raped our women, beat our children and plundered our houses. The tragedy that happened last September brought back all these painful memories."

-- The Nation, Bangkok