Fewer Boots, More Vision, More Allies
The Economist manages to string together three stories about the Japan-US alliance, and to be wrong:
- The 2-11-08 arrest of an American soldier for rape.
- The election of Fûkûdá Yoshihiko as Iwakuni mayor.
- Another Soviet Russian Tupolev 95 "Bear" bomber incident.
Actually, I would argue that The Economist is trying to trivialize the first item to emphasize the salience of the latter two. To be fair, Japundit's Edward Ohmura is right about the the US Marines' track record in Okinawa. But, that doesn't mean the Japan-US alliance is just as important as it ever was, and the Fûkûdá national government is lucky that Iwakuni understands that.
The Economist neglects to mention, as Japan Observer points above, that Tokyo threatened to withhold funds if Iwakuni voted against the Okinawa relocation plan allowing the US Marines to stay. Voters in Iwakuni clearly made the decision out of self-interest, not for the love of the alliance.
This raises two points. The Japan-US alliance is "corrosive". It has undermined the budget process between Tokyo and the cities.
Secondly, Russia in the Far East is not the threat it was, and Guam is just as good as Okinawa for the USAF. But, what is not good for the alliance is the disrespect for Japan's sovereignty manifested in the Iwakuni mayoral election. I agree with Japan Observer, that the US needs to formulate a contemporary Far East strategy (and not this kind of plan), and do its diplomatic best to sell it to its allies in the region before it loses them.
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