Network of Okinawa founding member Ann Wright writes about Washingtons militarization, destabilization of the Asia-Pacific, pressure on Japan to overturn Article 9, and to build another US military base in Okinawa : Jeju Island - Tragic Destruction of Pristine Marine Area for Another Naval Base for the US Missile Defense System Two years ago when I visited Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea, the one-half mile ancient, solid volcanic slab of a spiritual and cultural rock known as Gureombi was still intact. The marine environment that had made Jeju Island one of the World Heritage Sites was still thriving with sea life. The government of South Korea had moved some equipment to be used for construction of a controversial naval base for Aegis missile destroyers and the US missile defense system. This would be a new military port in a country filled with US and South Korean military installations, but one that would be just a little bit closer to China--a new naval base that would symbolize the US pivot toward Asia and the Pacific... When asked about his opposition to the base, Stone said, “This base will host US Aegis missile destroyers, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines. It’s part of Obama’s Pacific pivot...put in place to threaten China...We have to stop this. All this is leading up to a war, and I’ve seen war in Asia. I do not want another war.” The lessons of Jeju Island are stark. The US military pivot to Asia and the Pacific will be disastrous for many areas—bases in Okinawa where the US wants to build a runway into the South China Sea over pristine corals, home to the dugong manatee; in Pagan, an island in the Northern Marianas where the US wants to use as a bombing range as it did for decades on the Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe and the Puerto Rican Island of Viequez; and in Guam where the Marines want to have an artillery range in an environmentally protected area. With the pivot, the United States has increased its military exercises in the area. Current American military exercises with South Korea and Japan have triggered the North Korean government to put its military on alert and warned that these exercises could have “disastrous consequences.” The Japanese people are angry that the US is urging the government of Japan to renounce the “No War” article of their constitution so the US will have another financial ally in wars of choice. So far, just as the US pivot to the Middle East twelve years ago destabilized the region, the US pivot to Asia seems to already be having the same dangerous effect. truth-out.org/opinion/item/19518-jeju-island-tragic-destruction-of-pristine-marine-area-for-another-naval-base-for-the-us-missile-defense-system
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 13:59:46 +0000
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