Clinton signs Guam pact

[unhappycamper]

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, shakes hands with Japan Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone prior to their meeting at the Iikura Guest House on Tuesday in Tokyo.


Clinton signs Guam pact
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, February 19, 2009

On her first trip to Asia since taking office, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed an agreement in Tokyo on Tuesday that puts teeth into a plan to move 8,000 Marines and their families from Okinawa to Guam.

The agreement, signed by Clinton and Japan Minister of Foreign Affairs Hirofumi Nakasone, spells out how the $6.09 billion Japan has said it will contribute to the project will be spent. Specifically, Japan agreed to spend a total of $2.8 billion for "projects to develop facilities and infrastructure on Guam."

The new agreement reinforces a bilateral agreement signed in May 2006 to realign U.S. troops in Japan. Key to the so-called "Realignment Roadmap" is the building of a new airfield on Camp Schwab to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. But the plan has been stalled because of opposition by some Okinawa officials who want runways for the new facility to be built offshore.

"This agreement reflects the commitment we have to modernize our military posture in the Pacific," Clinton said at the signing. "It reinforces the core of our alliance — the mission to defend Japan against attack and to deter any attack by all necessary means."

Nakasone said the agreement "shows the strength of our alliance."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60794