 Anti-base activists discuss ways to increase campaign Anti-U.S. military base activists held a meeting in Okinawa on April 2 and April 3 to discuss how to develop the struggle against U.S. bases in Japan. The Central Action Committee against the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty (Anpo-Haki) organized the meeting. In the keynote speech, Hayasaka Yoshiro, Anpo-Haki secretary general, stated that major adverse changes are taking place in the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty setup, including the restructuring of U.S. bases in Japan to take on a global role as a command center and stepping-stone for actions outside of Japan, and the implementation of a joint operational setup by Japan-U.S. forces. This shows that the Japanese people's struggle against U.S. bases in Japan has an increasing international responsibility. Hayasaka emphasized that it is clearer than ever to many people that the 130 U.S. bases in Japan are not for the defense of Japan, but for supporting overseas invasions by U.S. forces. If more people knew this fact, the anti-base campaign would develop further, he added. He called for exposing the reality of U.S. wars and bases, as well as the various kinds of damages caused by the U.S. bases. Ohnishi Teruo, a Nago Council to Block the Construction of the U.S. On-Sea Heliport representative, reported that Nago citizens' sit-in protest over the past year against the new base plan is beginning to influence public opinion. Niihara Shoji, an expert on international affairs, reported on the Bush administration's strategy concerning U.S. forces' transformation. He emphasized how extraordinarily U.S. bases in Japan were established, and talked about the existence of a great number of secret agreements related to the Japan-U.S. Status of U.S. Forces Agreement. Sato Mitsuo, the head of the JCP commission on U.S. bases, stressed, "The government claims that the planned restructuring of U.S. bases in Japan will help reduce the burden of U.S. bases. Although it supposedly has concerns over public opinion, it is providing U.S. forces with bases without restraint." "The task now is for peace activists to attract a majority of the public to oppose the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and its base setup by exposing the lies surrounding the base restructuring scheme," he said. (end) |