Posted on 02/24/2010 8:20:54 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The Japanese government will officially admit that it signed two secret pacts with the U.S. in 1960 and 1972, allowing the U.S. Forces Japan to intervene in a war on the Korean Peninsula without consulting Tokyo and allowing the U.S. to deploy nuclear weapons in Okinawa in a regional emergency.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Wednesday that an expert committee at the Japanese Foreign Ministry recently investigated the question and recommended admitting the existence of the two secret pacts. They will be made public in March.
The first pact was agreed when the two countries revised the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. The second was concluded before the U.S. returned Okinawa to Japan, and states that the U.S. can bring nuclear weapons to the island after consultations with Tokyo.
Japan had consistently denied the existence of the secret pacts, but the new government, which pursues a policy of greater transparency and reduced dependence on the U.S., launched the investigation since its inauguration last September.
Based on a report from the committee, the Yukio Hatoyama administration will decide what to do with the secret pacts. Of the two, the 1972 nuclear pact is likely to be scrapped since it runs counter to Japan's three anti-nuclear principles banning the possession, production and import of nuclear arms.
(Excerpt) Read more at english.chosun.com ...
Ping.
“The first pact was agreed when the two countries revised the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. The second was concluded before the U.S. returned Okinawa to Japan, and states that the U.S. can bring nuclear weapons to the island after consultations with Tokyo.”
When my ship went to Okinawa in late 63, it was understood by the crew (at least some of us), that we were ferrying nuclear weapons...
I thought 0 was going to make everyone love us.
Another reason we need to win and finish the war in Afghanistan so we can be closer allies with India. I am not liking where Japan is going and it will only become worse with future economic strains. India should be one of our more important allies in the region.
I’d like to see us “finish up” in korea too.
yes
I feel that we will be there for a while.
We need Japan because of missile defense reasons.
Things that make ME go hmmmmmm...
Secret agreements between nations are generally not something that one government unilaterally reveals. I wonder if Hatoyama discussed this move with anyone in the US government beforehand.
As bad as Obama is proving to be for America, the Japanese people are coming to the horrified realization that Hatoyama and his collection of new-age freaks are totally out of their depth and have no idea of the long-term consequences of their actions.
This is not a good thing.
I am not saying cut ties, but I would think Japan would understand the threats in the area like India does. It is just my opinion that India is the key to the region.
here comes some payback
WHY are they coming clean about this? Is it simply because Hatoyama is liberal as hell? That’s part of it, sure, but there’s the considerably more impotant thing:
The US is now seen as UNRELIABLE. Yeah. And I’d wonder what next CONSIDERABLY worse thing is about to happen.
Sure, I chaff pretty badly about some of the “defend us, but quietly, and far away”-type things that come out of Tokyko, but there is MORE driving this.
We didn’t do crap to help the J’s get there kidnapped folks back from NK, in fact we really undermined all that. There is NO WAY Japan is going to make any progress on that with THIS guy in office. Seriously how would WE feel if a bunch of our people were being abducted from our very beaches, and being hauled off to be SPY INSTRUCTORS in freaking North Korea...? Or being used as an ATM by NK...? Lots of other stuff...
So I think Japan is at the point of thinking, OK, well...we’d have to pay these honky outsiders to defend us, and now they’re NOT doing that....so why don’t we blow that loot on our OWN forces, on which we can really RELY...?
Well....Japan is a part of a REGION that has huge fears about Godzilla waking up, so in fact that route offers worse footing than at first it might appear.
But the important thing in this is that it shows some reason for some higher level of strategic honesty from Japan, which...is starting to hint at a new era in Japanese/American relations in the defense realm.
We should have taken them over after we beat their ass in the war.
This is disturbing...at just the time when Japan needs to be seen as prolly having folks with nukes nearby/on their soil, this move instead impedes our ability to do just that at some point in the future.
This is not good.
It’s like both Japan and also the US are being led by people who are playing a chess game while peering at the board through a paper-towel tube, ONE and only one move at a time, instead of thinking two or three moves ahead.
This is a higher level of honesty, that’s quaint, but this will also raise questions in Beijin and Pyomyang about whether our two countries see completely eye to eye.
This is worrisome and...illogical.
Indonesia, taiwan, singapore, korea...they are all key to containing communism in the area. It’s high time for a little shake up in the region. Giter dun in the stans damit! Then finish up this half century nonsense in the koreas! Taiwan and tibet need some dental implants toot-sweet for the gnashing of chinese flanks.
Since India is holding joint exercises with China, I fear that may NOT be an option.
I think they do realize the threats in their neck in the woods. They really understand the North Korean threat because their missiles overfly their nation and number one target if North Korea decides to lash out. They are still having problems with China(most of it historical reasons).
My cousin serves in Sokor, and yes, I would love for him to come home.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.