/

Ex-U.S. official Kurt Campbell

Tuesday December 14, 10:16 PM
Ex-U.S. official proposes Futemma relocation outside Okinawa

(Kyodo) _ A former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense on Tuesday proposed that the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station in central Okinawa be moved out of the prefecture instead of the northern Okinawa city of Nago.
"It's now time to reconsider other options. I do think that there are some options that can and should be considered outside of Okinawa," Kurt Campbell, who took charge of East Asian and Pacific affairs during his stint at the Pentagon, told reporters.

Campbell, who was visiting Japan, made the remark in a group interview with Kyodo News and other news media in Okinawa's capital of Naha.

Campbell was one of the key members of the 1996 Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa, which stipulated the relocation of the base and return of the land under then U.S. President Bill Clinton.

"So much has changed between 1996 and today," Campbell said, adding that "it is important to be creative and flexible" in light of the significant changes in military mindsets since 1996, apparently alluding to the war against terrorism.

He also said a relocation to Nago will be "enormously expensive" and will come at a great sacrifice "politically, financially and environmentally," urging that sites elsewhere in Japan or Asia be considered.

Campbell was referring to Japan's decision in 2002 to build a military-civilian airport on reclaim land off Nago to relocate the heliport function of the Futemma base. Construction is said to likely take 10 or more years.

Also, to avoid a "major crisis," alluding to anti-U.S. sentiments caused by the rape incident of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa in 1995, he said, "Now is the time to consider options that will reduce the burden in Okinawa, not to rearrange the burden."

He added this view is held by a majority in the Pentagon and Marines.