12/02/10 02:33:30.01 eES0MzXD
シンクタンク、ヘリテージ財団の東アジア専門家である Bruce Klingnerが、沖縄の海兵隊をめぐる新たなオバマ政権の対日政策
について、大変批判的な評論を書いている。アメリカの保守派がこの問題を如何に見ているかを考える上で参考になると思ふ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
URLﾘﾝｸ(www.heritage.org)
White House Deal with Japan Risks Military Capability in Asia
By Bruce Klingner February 8, 2012
オバマ政権の沖縄基地・海兵隊問題に対する政策はアジアにおける軍事能力のリスクとなる By Bruce Klingner ヘリテージ財団
On February 8, the United States and Japan jointly announced changes to the existing bilateral accord for realigning U.S.
Marines on Okinawa. While both sides affirmed commitment to relocating a Marine air unit on the island, more
significantly, the Obama Administration abandoned longstanding U.S. insistence that Japan fulfill pre-conditional
commitments prior to Washington removing 8,000 Marines from Okinawa and returning U.S. bases to local control.
As a result, the U.S. has needlessly compromised military capabilities and significant negotiating leverage in favor of
budgetary and political considerations. By de-linking the interconnected clauses of the accord, Japan achieved benefits
earlier and without fulfilling the preconditions required by the original agreement. In return, the U.S. received
nothing more tangible than yet another vague Japanese affirmation of its promise to make progress toward eventually
fulfilling its commitments.
●Few Details in Announced Revision
●What Is Driving the Deal?
●Self-Imposed Injuries
●What Do Okinawa Critics Want?
●What the U.S. Should Do
●Correcting a Mistake
De-linking the components of the Guam Agreement was a mistake, since it did not provide the U.S. any tangible benefits.
Moreover, it signaled to Okinawan opponents of the accord that the U.S. is more willing to provide concessions as a
result of massive cuts to the defense budget.
If the U.S. wants to maintain the level of readiness required to respond to a crisis in Asia, it should start correcting
the mistake of offering concessions on Okinawa that have not been reciprocated.