U.S. to withdraw 7,000 Marines from Okinawa
WASHINGTON – The United States and Japan agreed Saturday to move forward with the biggest overhaul of the Pacific alliance in decades, aimed at bolstering military cooperation against new threats while consolidating U.S. forces on the island and withdrawing about 7,000 Marines from Okinawa.
The Marine ground and air forces, including the headquarters of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, will be transferred to Guam. The move, expected to be complete in six years, will reduce the number of Marines on the island of Okinawa from 18,000 to about 11,000, defense officials said. Japan agreed to work with the United States to finance and thereby accelerate the move to Guam, in part to alleviate long-standing Japanese friction with American forces on Okinawa.
The plan’s goal, outlined in a 14-page bilateral report released Saturday, is for Japan – with U.S. backing – to beef up its defenses against threats ranging from ballistic missiles to attacks by guerrilla forces, or an invasion of its remote islands. Meanwhile, the militaries will realign their forces in Japan so they can work more closely to counter regional and global threats such as terrorism.
“This relationship must and is in fact evolving to remain strong and relevant,” said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a news conference after meetings with his Japanese counterpart Yoshinori Ono, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura. The plan is part of the Pentagon’s ongoing review of the posture of U.S. forces around the globe.
A subtext of the cooperation, hinted at in the report, is to counter China’s military buildup, which the Pentagon views as a growing threat not only to Taiwan but also to other Asian countries, such as Japan and India. Close defense cooperation “is essential to dissuade destabilizing military buildups, to deter aggression and to respond to diverse security challenges,” the report said, in an apparent reference to Beijing’s rapid military modernization. It called the U.S.-Japan alliance the “anchor” of regional security.
The plan has two major thrusts – strengthened bilateral military cooperation and a realignment of forces and bases on Japan, where about 37,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed. Washington seeks to finalize all agreements related to implementing the plan by March 2006, although many steps will take years to execute.
The report calls for the two forces to share bases on Japan to increase their ability to conduct military operations.
The United States will establish an operations center with Japanese forces at Yokota Air Base, where the Japanese air defense command will be set side by side with the U.S. 5th Air Force. And the U.S. Army will move 300 soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., to Camp Zama, Japan, to set up a deployable headquarters there.