US Military Bases in Okinawa and Japan-US Relationship: A
Discussion with Nago City Mayor Susumu Inamine, Member of the Japanese
House of Representatives (Okinawa) Denny Tamaki and other experts,
facilitated by journalist David Swanson. Â
Seventy years after WWII, Okinawa, one of the fiercest
battlegrounds of the Pacific War (1941-45), continues to be
occupied by US military bases, mostly marine bases, posing threat
to safety, health, and life to people and environment. Despite
firm opposition by the majority of the people of Okinawa, US and
Japanese governments are forcing through their plan yet to build
another marine airbase with a military port, with
massive reclamation that is likely to cause damage to the
endangered bio-diverse environment of the Northeastern shore of
Okinawa. Mayor Susumu Inamine of Nago City, where the planned
military base construction site is, was first elected in 2010 and
re-elected this January, both on the ground of opposing the new
base. This is his second visit to the United States to lobby with
policymakers and to raise awareness and encourage action within
the US public. Please join Mayor Inamine and a panel of
experts think together about the US citizens? responsibility to
bring justice and democracy back to Okinawa.
Sponsored by Busboys and Poets and the New Diplomacy InitiativeÂ
