As part of the US Marines new force concept, they want to disperse their forces, now concentrated on Okinawa, to various other islands in the chain.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-plans-create-marine-littoral-002949180.html

I give the service credit; they have been moving aggressively to modify their posture in order to face what they see as their biggest threat. I think they are 100% correct, trying to defend core bases and airfields vs. an onslaught of Chinese long-range missiles is tough.

I wonder what the Okinawans think of this, they’ve been wanting US forces out for decades.

Kiwirob wrote:

I wonder what the Okinawans think of this, they’ve been wanting US forces out for decades.

Id be interested to know as well. I wonder if the tensions with China over the last few years have changed any attitudes.

geomap wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

I wonder what the Okinawans think of this, they’ve been wanting US forces out for decades.

Id be interested to know as well. I wonder if the tensions with China over the last few years have changed any attitudes.

Not from the documentary I watched last year, the locals hate the US presence.

Kiwirob wrote:

geomap wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

I wonder what the Okinawans think of this, they’ve been wanting US forces out for decades.

Id be interested to know as well. I wonder if the tensions with China over the last few years have changed any attitudes.

Not from the documentary I watched last year, the locals hate the US presence.

The locals have hated the US presence there (generally) since 1945. However, the current Japanese government has much broader view and can see over the horizon towards China to recognize what is in the best interest for the citizens of Okinawa, the country, and their partnership with their allies.

I get it. They make lots of noise and cause occasional major social problems with their presence. But in the end it's like a vision test at the optometrist - what looks better, number 1 (20K US Marines), or number 2 (10M Chinese)? I bet Okinawans choose #1.

In addition to what leader1 stated I consider North Korea to be the cancerous tumor of Club China, a dark harbinger of what it must be like to live directly under China's thumb. Just like Ukraine under Russia. You might recall that North Korea routinely fires nuclear capable missiles near, towards and even over Japan. So yeah, Japan is legitimately threatened by both China and its insane lackey almost weekly with total nuclear annihilation. It's not hard to understand why the Marine Corps has presence in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan.

I should add that China has claimed Okinawa for themselves in the past.

https://www.dw.com/en/japan-angered-by- ... a-16803117

China has also been active in supporting Okinawan independence.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/ ... activists/

Okinawa was a separate kingdom and a Chinese vassal state until Japan absorbed them in 1879.

https://www.businessinsider.com/forget- ... wa-2012-10

I’ve said this before on other threads; as a taxpayer, I have no qualms with the US DoD reducing its footprint at its foreign bases. It would save a ton of money to hand over these bases to the host nations. If they want us to stay bad enough..let us stay “rent free”..I know Poland would do it.

Buckeyetech wrote:

I’ve said this before on other threads; as a taxpayer, I have no qualms with the US DoD reducing its footprint at its foreign bases. It would save a ton of money to hand over these bases to the host nations. If they want us to stay bad enough..let us stay “rent free”..I know Poland would do it.

Not sure that switching from Okinowa to Poland would work if your interested in China.

aumaverick wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

geomap wrote:

Id be interested to know as well. I wonder if the tensions with China over the last few years have changed any attitudes.

Not from the documentary I watched last year, the locals hate the US presence.

The locals have hated the US presence there (generally) since 1945. However, the current Japanese government has much broader view and can see over the horizon towards China to recognize what is in the best interest for the citizens of Okinawa, the country, and their partnership with their allies.

...well it's the Japanese's fault why the US is there...I'm just saying...

INFINITI329 wrote:

aumaverick wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

Not from the documentary I watched last year, the locals hate the US presence.

The locals have hated the US presence there (generally) since 1945. However, the current Japanese government has much broader view and can see over the horizon towards China to recognize what is in the best interest for the citizens of Okinawa, the country, and their partnership with their allies.

...well it's the Japanese's fault why the US is there...I'm just saying...

That ended nearly 80 years ago.

Kiwirob wrote:

INFINITI329 wrote:

aumaverick wrote:

The locals have hated the US presence there (generally) since 1945. However, the current Japanese government has much broader view and can see over the horizon towards China to recognize what is in the best interest for the citizens of Okinawa, the country, and their partnership with their allies.

...well it's the Japanese's fault why the US is there...I'm just saying...

That ended nearly 80 years ago.

Why is your government still occupying New Zealand, despite the locals wishes? British rule ended nearly 90 years ago.

LyleLanley wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

INFINITI329 wrote:

...well it's the Japanese's fault why the US is there...I'm just saying...

That ended nearly 80 years ago.

Why is your government still occupying New Zealand, despite the locals wishes? British rule ended nearly 90 years ago.

That makes no sense. Who are the locals, I'm a local, there is no alternative govt, the govt comprises people from all ethnicity's present in NZ. The US forces in Okinawa are occupation forces that never left.

It's certainly not up to me to decide if US forces should stay, I have some familiarity with the subject due to my nationality : long before my birth our president Charles de Gaulle asked all US forces to leave France...

There is no doubt that the bases have a strategic importance for the US, now, do they contribute to a safer Japan, that's arguable. Okinawa can probably be taken by China if it really wants to, but to what end ? Surely that would be after having taken Taiwan already ? By then the Chinese economy would have to rely on selling stuff to Russia and some African countries, the West would be closed to it.

Please keep posts on topic.

✈️ atcsundevil

Looking at the map, Okinawa is so strategically located between Japan and Taiwan.

I don't see the US leaving Okinawa unless they return to the Philipines in force. Or until China and Taiwan finally kiss and make up.

bt

bikerthai wrote:

Looking at the map, Okinawa is so strategically located between Japan and Taiwan.

I don't see the US leaving Okinawa unless they return to the Philipines in force. Or until China and Taiwan finally kiss and make up.

bt

Volcano aside, the USAF should never have left Clark AFB. Like Gen. MacArthur advocated, the US should return to the Philippines.

Kiwirob wrote:

LyleLanley wrote:

Kiwirob wrote:

That ended nearly 80 years ago.

Why is your government still occupying New Zealand, despite the locals wishes? British rule ended nearly 90 years ago.

That makes no sense. Who are the locals, I'm a local, there is no alternative govt, the govt comprises people from all ethnicity's present in NZ. The US forces in Okinawa are occupation forces that never left.

To you. Another person might say you're not a local but a descendent of a foreign conqueror "that never left" who assuages their guilt by occasional land acknowledgements as well as belatedly (and controversially) giving the rightful owners of their land a minority stake in a foreign-imposed government.

Another person, still, might mention that US forces in Japan are not "occupation forces that never left" but friendly-nation personnel there at the invitation of their own government via mutual-defense treaty. That person might also point out that the movement of Marines from Futenma to Henoko has been repeatedly blocked by the local population. Sounds like those "occupation forces" are really bringing the hammer down and imposing their will, again...

That same person might also mention that the issue of US forces in Okinawa is really just a red herring and that the real issue is Okinawan independence from Japan.

I guess reality is more complex than blanket statements.

aumaverick wrote:

Volcano aside, the USAF should never have left Clark AFB. Like Gen. MacArthur advocated, the US should return to the Philippines.

It seems like "Dugout Doug"'s PR campaign has survived 80 years later.

The Philippines should have been bypassed in favor of Formosa (now Tiawan) just as Nimitz wanted, it made far more strategic sense.

McArthur should have been retired off long before Truman actually did it.

Aesma wrote:

Okinawa can probably be taken by China if it really wants to, but to what end ?

I don't know about that. Japan has a Top 5 air force and navy. They also have a dislike for China. China might be able to do it, but at a reasonable cost? I doubt it.

johns624 wrote:

Aesma wrote:

Okinawa can probably be taken by China if it really wants to, but to what end ?

I don't know about that. Japan has a Top 5 air force and navy. They also have a dislike for China. China might be able to do it, but at a reasonable cost? I doubt it.

As Ukraine is showing and past experience of the Korean war, quantity can have significant bearing on any conflict, especially where the end result is more important than the how, in the case of your comment, the cost in lives and machinery.

And as rhe Ukraine conflict shown, distance impacts logistics exponentially.

Getting troop across the Taiwan straight is one thing. Supporting a whole scale invasion of Okinawa without the support of land base SAMs would require more carriers and support ships than the Chinese will be able to build in the next decade.