Returning airport (US military base) to Japan too risky, researchers say

[dArKeR]

AP , TOKYO
Regional security threats make the return of a US military air base near Tokyo to Japanese control still too risky, a private American research institute said in a study to be presented to Japan's Defense Agency.

But the US military should gradually share the airport at Yokota Air Base with Japanese forces and commercial airlines, the Washington-based Hudson Institute said in a report.

Return of the airport to Japan "only begins to take on an aura of possibility ... resolution of the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the Taiwan Straits," said the report by the conservative institute.

Tensions have simmered between North and South Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean War. North Korea and the US also have been locked in a standoff over the communist country's nuclear ambitions.

The US military's exclusive use of Yokota Air Base, located just west of Tokyo, has long been a contentious issue in Japan.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/06/17/2003175405

[Tellurian]

1. hmmm...time to ponder..

[Art_from_Ark]

2. There are tons of US military bases in Japan

Most of them are in Okinawa, but there are lots on the mainland, including air bases at Misawa and Iwakuni. And this does not include Japanese air bases like the one just down the road from me. Just how many air bases does a country the size of California need to protect itself from a country that has a proven missile accuracy of a few dozen kilometers?

[lebkuchen]

3. In Germany, old US airbases are being turned over to Ryan Air

Bases like Hahn, which had Chuck Yeager as its first commander (he visited there for an air show just a week ago), are now cheap-fare Ryan Air hubs. Japan sure could use something like that. Flying RT to Tokyo from Okinawa can be as high as $500. The discount airlines have been a boost to the local economies.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. There is one international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area

That's 30 million people. There's also just one domestic airport. You are right that transferring rights back to Japan could be a boon for the local economy.

And military installations have been returned in the past. For example, there is a former US bombing range up the pike from me that was turned into an amusement park.

[saigon68]

4. If a Republican Corporate donor has a reason-- the Base will go on

Forever--

Follow the money trail

The new emerging corporate economy of the 21st Century demands a partnership between business and the Government

in other words the taxpayer be damned.

[thebigidea]

5. are you paying attention, Iraq?