Why are U.S forces still in Japan

[Rayc]

Japan is the launch pad for Bush's Freedom and Democracy Invasion Forces onto China and North Korea.

Before Bush's second term is over, he will smoke all out. Japan must play its part for all the help they have givento Japan ever since Commodore Perry threatened Japan with his gunboats and coining the English word - gunboat diplomacy.

Please understand Bush is a good Christian. He has to bring Compassion to the oppressed of the world. Saddam has gone, Kimmy and the Chinese have to go and then it will be the turn of Putin

We must make the world safe.

It is damn hard work!

This is what my Sunday school at Church told me.

War is bad. But War to bring World Peace is good.

 

[bossel]

Japan is the launch pad for Bush's Freedom and Democracy Invasion Forces onto China and North Korea.

NK maybe, but China? Highly improbable.

War is bad. But War to bring World Peace is good.

If Bush starts a war with China, world peace will be quite radiating.

This is what my Sunday school at Church told me.

What you wrote above is probably a good reason to tell the church not to meddle with politics.

 

[Rayc]

The Church does not meddle. It guides.

Of course, it is a matter of interpretation.

 

[Martialartsnovice]

@Rayc

I agree, with your statement about Bush. He ahs done a few good christian acts, and he'll probablyu take Kim Jong Yong II, by the seat of his pants, and throw him into Guantanamo Bay, to rot for a while. but China seems, improbable at this moment in time. I think its safer to finish in Iraq, than see what the future holds.

 

[popular front]

test

this is just a test.

 

[senator]

U.S force came and will not leave ..Japaness must fight with U.S force and win..so Japaness military can replace of U.S force.

 

[xelmo368x]

woah, i don't mean to sound rude but some of you are naive to what's going on.

the U.S. presence in Japan stems back from post WWII and i hate to say it but to the victor of war goes the spoils. the U.S. basically told Japan that they never wanted another attack like Pear Harbor to happen ever again so the Japanese war machine was dismantled and they were left only to have a self defense force. the U.S. realized the strategic value in the location of Japan in proximity to the rest of asia and at present, the U.S. presence in Japan is to defend mutual Japanese and American interests. If the U.S. suddenly pulled out of Japan, they would be left extremely vulnerable given their military capabilities. i am a U.S. servicemember stationed in Japan and i can honestly say that even though the locals are very polite and hospitable, they don't want the U.S. here. completely understandable. i'm sure you've all heard about the tensions between Japan and China. over some book released in japan schools downplaying the torture and killings the japanese inflicted on china in WWII. that's what these protests are all about. so who will defend japan if tensions continue to increase? i believe this area of the world is ripe for war. china's "congress" has authorized the use of military force to take over taiwan because they see it as an insurrection (which i think they just want it back so they can extend their borders to impose a tariff on goods originally manufactured in taiwan) in 1996 the U.S. signed a treaty stating that if Taiwan was ever attacked, the U.S. would intervene. currently, China is investing alot of money into upgrading and modernizing their military and just a few months ago a chinese submarine was spotted off of my base taking pictures of our flight line. It would be an ample time for North Korea to make a move as well. half of Kim Jong's military forces are within several miles of the DMZ. (border separating N and S Korea) the Korean war isn't offically over, there has only been a cease fire agreement. in the Korean War, North Korea pushed U.S. and South Korean forces all the way to the tip of the peninsula and it can happen again. furthermore, both North Korea and China have missle launch capability extending to all of the Korean Peninsula and all of Japan (but cannot reach the continental U.S.) they are volley missles though and not guided. fortunately the U.S. Army has Patriot missles to shoot them down if this ever happened (pray it doesn't because i'm not sure if we have enough to shoot down a hundred incoming missles) if say China attacked Taiwan and the North Koreans poured over the DMZ then in my personal opinion, South Korea would be overrun, and Japan and U.S. forces there would be next unless they hold out, then those of us residing in Japan would be on the front lines.

 

[PaulTB]

woah, i don't mean to sound rude but some of you are naive to what's going on.

Well I don't mean to sound rude - but please break up your text. Paragraphs were invented for a reason you know (as were capital letters).

Meanwhile, as to the content, you are mixing together several quite different points in a way that makes your argument difficult to follow.

the U.S. presence in Japan stems back from post WWII and i hate to say it but to the victor of war goes the spoils. the U.S. basically told Japan that they never wanted another attack like Pear Harbor to happen ever again so the Japanese war machine was dismantled and they were left only to have a self defense force.

Fine, but not directly relevant. I would guess that the U.S. bases presently in Japan were generally established shortly after World War II. It's obvious why they would have been established then and why Japan would have accepted having them established at the time.

the U.S. realized the strategic value in the location of Japan in proximity to the rest of asia and at present, the U.S. presence in Japan is to defend mutual Japanese and American interests. If the U.S. suddenly pulled out of Japan, they would be left extremely vulnerable given their military capabilities.

Your points here address the present requirements for US bases in Japan. Unless you want to imply that the US is currently afraid of a Japanese military build up and aggressive campaign of imperial expansion then why they were originally established isn't really important. If they don't represent a fair compromise between Japanese and American interests then their presence and status should be re-negotiated.

i am a U.S. servicemember stationed in Japan and i can honestly say that even though the locals are very polite and hospitable, they don't want the U.S. here. completely understandable.

But how does it compare with U.S. bases in other countries?

There are a good few US Bases in the UK and though there are certainly groups opposed to their presense we don't hear the same sort of stories about crimes commited by US soldiers against the 'natives'.

 

[Tim33]

Its generally just a local base to keep forces for when they are needed. I dont think it is due to problems with Japan, maybe post war for a while and then with the cold war etc. Now i guess it is for defencsive purposes against North Korea. The Japanese say they dont like American forces there and the government tends to go along with there people but i think really the Japanese government are more then happy to have them there.

 

[xelmo368x]

Gee PaulTB, I didn't know my essay was being graded. So sorry it didn't meet your standards. Also, It's not an argument. It's just general information coupled with my opinions. You seemed to completely disregard the severity of what's going on in this corner of the world and more concerned with critiques which by the way, your responses stated the blatantly obvious. There's no need to insult anyone's intelligence here. The segments you pointed out were more in response to people that had posted prior me.

Last thing, I realize that many host countries don't want U.S. military installations on their soil however, this is a forum on Japan and I am speaking from my own point of view. I am not defending the U.S. servicemembers who have committed crimes against local nationals of their respective countries. Unfortunately, it is the way things are and crimes will inevitably continue to happen. When one servicemember does something stupid, all of us suffer and get labele.

 

[ryushin]

maybe a simple conclusion is that everything has its pros and cons??? lol..

 

[Carlson]

well being stationed at Yokota AB with the Air Force this should be a good thread to read. I havent had much trouble with the Local Japanese people.

 

[CBT1979]

Japan = America's first choice of military bases in pacific

After WW2, the USA saw the USSR as a threat for its political and strategic interests and were looking for good locations to station their troops overseas. Since China became communistic too and Japan still weak after the defeat by the allied forces, the US decided to build up Japan not for its own defense but far more for their interests to project power from there.
With South Korea, Japan, Philipines, Thailand, the US has high advantage to block Chinese or Indian navy in any potential conflict scenario. And if one of their Asian "allies" turn against them, they still have Pearl harbor and Hawai.

The JSDF has enough modern weapons to defend itself and has one of the best equipped navys in Asia.

The US would like to have Taiwan as strategic partner too, to complete the China Sea blockade. But even the DPP is against any US troop presence on Taiwan.
Times change and so does alliance and friendship do.
I'm not saying that all US troops are bullies, since I also have several US G.I.s as friends. But here are plenty of them behave very bad and impolite overseas and only harm the image of the USA and its troops.

 

[crazybuyer]

what do you mean tim33?

 

[CBT1979]

Japan is the launch pad for Bush's Freedom and Democracy Invasion Forces onto China and North Korea.
Before Bush's second term is over, he will smoke all out. Japan must play its part for all the help they have givento Japan ever since Commodore Perry threatened Japan with his gunboats and coining the English word - gunboat diplomacy.
Please understand Bush is a good Christian. He has to bring Compassion to the oppressed of the world. Saddam has gone, Kimmy and the Chinese have to go and then it will be the turn of Putin
We must make the world safe.
It is damn hard work!
This is what my Sunday school at Church told me.
War is bad. But War to bring World Peace is good.

Bush was silly when he mentioned his war campaign as a new crusade. We all know that the crusades were done by Pseudo-Christians who were abusing the teachings of the Bible. Since when is killing people allowed only because they were not willing to turn into Christians?
Remember how Pope John Paul II was furious about Bush's saying and doing.
The Crusaders killed and raped in the middle East without regret.
Bush is neither a US patriot nor a peace loving guy. With war he and his neo-cons make huge profits within the arms industry and oil industry. Since he declared war against terror, the world has not became safer but only causing new fronts.
Bush should feel ashame to abuse the words of god and misleading the Christian image.

 

[suaha]

I guess

Japan doesn't has own army that's why US forces still in Japan

 

[japantvhost]

Simply, it suits both sides for forces to be here.

 

[Nicholas0016]

:box: I do not see why there are still U.S. forces in Japan, it makes no sence to me, and what are they doing, just sitting there wasting America's money? I do not see anything for them to do in Japan, the war was so long ago, we still have forces in Germany too, I do not understand why this is and I would like to know, I also want to know how many troops there are, even if it is a small number, I do not see the purpose!

Because Japan and America rely on each other 100%. If Japan ever had a national disaster it would tear our economy up alot. Thats how sensitive it is. Then you have nuclear weapon threats against our allies so we are there to stop it.


Why wait for an attack on our allie when we can prevent it?

I'm not saying that all US troops are bullies, since I also have several US G.I.s as friends. But here are plenty of them behave very bad and impolite overseas and only harm the image of the USA and its troops.

Yeah, there's always people who give a group a bad name.

 

[Nicholas0016]

Bush was silly when he mentioned his war campaign as a new crusade. We all know that the crusades were done by Pseudo-Christians who were abusing the teachings of the Bible. Since when is killing people allowed only because they were not willing to turn into Christians?
Remember how Pope John Paul II was furious about Bush's saying and doing.
The Crusaders killed and raped in the middle East without regret.
Bush is neither a US patriot nor a peace loving guy. With war he and his neo-cons make huge profits within the arms industry and oil industry. Since he declared war against terror, the world has not became safer but only causing new fronts.
Bush should feel ashame to abuse the words of god and misleading the Christian image.

Neo-cons huh? You believe in Global Warming too?


"Since when is killing people allowed?"

It's not thats why we declared war on terrorist. Remember the two towers? Ring a bell?

 

[MONKEYHEAD]

Neo-cons huh? You believe in Global Warming too?
"Since when is killing people allowed?"
It's not thats why we declared war on terrorist. Remember the two towers? Ring a bell?

so why did they invade Iraq when the terrorists were Saudis?

the neo-cons wanted an excuse to invade Iraq years before 911, they said so themselves.

and where do you think all your tax dollars for the war against terror end up? guess how the Bush family makes it's money?

Arms, Oil, Homeland Security- see any links yet?