Senators Inouye and Cochran are visiting Japan to try to convince the Japanese government to accept the relocation of Futenma air station within Okinawa. The combination is interesting. Inouye is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cochran a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.   Cochran and Inouye are both staunch supporters of missile defense. In the late 1990s Inouye even broke with the rest of his party to support missile defense. In 1999, they cosponsored the National Missile Defense Act, which called for deployment of missile defenses as soon as it was technologically feasible.    This bill set off a missile defense ‘gold rush’ among defense contractors seeking to cash in on lucrative military research and development projects.   The Pacific Missile Range became a beehive of missile defense and other military technological research activity. The controversial Navy Applied Research Laboratory / University Affiliated Research Center at the University of Hawai’i is also a product of this gold rush.

One of Japan’s key security interests is obtaining a missile shield in the event of an attack from North Korea.   It makes one wonder if Inouye and Cochran seek to negotiate a missile defense for bases type of deal.

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http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100113/NEWS01/100113001/Inouye++Cochran+visiting+Japan

Posted on: Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Inouye, Cochran visiting Japan

Advertiser Staff

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, began a five-day trip to Japan yesterday. Joining him was Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Inouye’s office said in a news release.

The delegation is scheduled to meet with U.S. and Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, and will travel to Tokyo and Okinawa, where the U.S. Marine Corps airfield at Futenma is located. The U.S. and Japan are discussing the future of the airfield.

“Our strategic relationship with Japan demands that we find an equitable solution to the Futenma situation, and I am optimistic that my visit will provide some valuable insight into how we can accomplish this goal as soon as possible, and to the satisfaction of both countries,” Inouye said.