(Okinawa) We Need Evacuation Plans!

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/WA/2015/08/13/we-need-evacuation-plans/



We Need Evacuation Plans!
Published in Ryūkyū Shimpō (Japan) on 28 July 2015 [link to original]
Translated from Japanese by Hirotoshi Kimura. Edited by Rachel Pott.
Posted on August 13, 2015.

It has come to light that there is no part of Okinawa with a U.S. base where there is an evacuation manual ready for possible accidents. This shows how neglectful the municipalities are in their minimum duty of protecting residents’ lives.

However, not all blame lies at the door of the municipalities, for the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) stipulates that the U.S. military holds “exclusive management rights” over everything that goes on at its bases, making it virtually impossible for the Japanese government to have a say in its business. Also, there’s no way whatsoever for the municipalities to know what kinds of weapons and ammunition are on site or whether or not they are radioactive.

~snip~

The Department of Defense, the U.S. military's virtual landlord in Japan, should be obligated to at least provide host towns and cities with critical information for evacuation planning. At the same time, the U.S. military shouldn’t be allowed to hide behind the curtain when it is the one that needs to come clean.

I’d say the “exclusive management rights” proviso is the root of all evil here. This kind of concept is not accepted anywhere else in the world. Humiliatingly enough, this, in effect, reduces Japan to the status of a vassal state.