In 2014 the people of Okinawa, a territory of Japan, voted in a new governor, Takeshi Onaga. Onaga ran and was voted in to office largely due to one issue: a U.S. military base on the island. After World War II, Japan was forced to let the United States establish a plethora of military bases as one of the concessions of defeat. Okinawa, an island in the Pacific, was one of the places that received a U.S. base. Onaga won in a landslide in 2014 because he opposed the U.S. military base in Okinawa. But how legitimate is this base if the local population wants it gone? The U.S. military base should be removed from Okinawa, as it lacks the strategic importance and moral legitimacy it once held.
Unlike after World War II, Japan is no longer a country that needs to be looked after. Over a span of 50 years, Japan and the United States have become very close economically and politically. Japan even has a section of its Constitution, Article 9, which outlaws the state having a standing army. Japan has slowly worked its way around this restriction and now has the “Self-Defense Force,” which the Japanese maintain is not an army despite sending it abroad to Iraq. While the SDF took part in Iraq in a very limited capacity, it is troubling that a force that has been labelled as being for “self-defense” — traditionally interpreted as meaning protection of Japan itself — is being used abroad. Despite these subversions it is clear that Japan is not a nation the United States needs to watch anymore, being so close an economic and political ally.
Communism, the other reason for establishing the base, is not the great threat it once was; even communist China is moving to more pro-market practices. China may be another reason the United States might want to stay in Okinawa. Without a U.S. base in Okinawa, China might try to bring the island under its protection. This could, at the very least, strain relations between two of the most powerful countries in the region. If China and Japan ever got to that point the United States would be torn between supporting its ally Japan or its economic interests in China. However, merely having a U.S. base in Okinawa would not stop a determined China from acting. If China is determined to take a prominent and unarguably Japanese island then it could choose many others. In addition to this, there are many other U.S. military bases around Japan that would make China wary of taking any bold steps toward claiming Japanese territory. Having another base in Okinawa is convenient, but is it not necessary to check China.
The final reason the U.S. military base has not been disbanded as of yet is that it serves to project U.S. power overseas, protecting economic and political interests. Yet, is this base still a source of American power? The people of Okinawa want it gone, and it only seems to provide a steady stream of bad press. The Japanese central government might support the base, but that seems to stem from a general attitude of supporting the United States instead of supporting the base for its own merits The island itself does not have any industries the United States is invested in, other than defense, and there are other bases in the area from which the United States can protect its economic interests. During a time when balancing the budget has become so crucial, it is ridiculous to have such an undesirable drain on the U.S. government. Japan needs to be given full responsibility for defending its own territory and industries, letting America benefit as an ally instead of a parent.
Looking beyond the practical calculus, there is no moral reason to keep the base. There are daily protests outside the base and a democratic mandate for its removal. The base causes a great deal of environmental harm to the island without providing any help to fix that problem. Even worse, soldiers have on multiple occasions stolen from and raped residents of the island. Even with the recent agreement to move the base, these problems do not appear to be disappearing soon. It is not surprising that after the mistreatment the military has given the Okinawan people that the Okinawans want the U.S. base gone.
The U.S. military is undoubtedly the most powerful in the world. Yet, just because it has this power does not mean there is a license to use it wherever it wishes. The United States presents itself as a moral leader in the world. This position has come more and more into question after the war in Iraq and the various human rights offenses the country has committed. The United States needs to prove itself to earn that mantel again. This means not only improving going forward but looking back and fixing the mistakes already made. The military base on Okinawa is one of these glaring stains on the U.S. moral consciousness. There is little reason for the United States to maintain such a morally illegitimate and strategically unnecessary base in Okinawa: the U.S. military base in Okinawa should be demobilized.
Bobby Doyle is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at r.doyle@cavalierdaily.com.
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