Okinawa solidarity groups publish a full-page ad in the Washington Post

http://closethebase.org/2010/04/28/official-press-release-april-28-2010/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 28, 2010

CONTACT: John Feffer, Institute for Policy Studies

johnf@ips-dc.org, 202-234-9382, cell: 510-282-8983

New U.S.-Japan coalition posts full-page ad in *The Washington Post*

Washington – April 28 – A full-page ad calling for the closure of the Futenma Marine Corps base and no base relocation within Okinawa prefecture has appeared in The Washington Post on April 28. This ad appears in the wake of the April 25 demonstration of nearly 100,000 Okinawans protesting the planned base relocation.

“Would You Want 30 Military Bases in Your Backyard?” reads the headline of the ad. “The new base would damage the health and safety of people and threaten a unique ecosystem that contains many rare species. This includes the Okinawan dugong, an endangered cousin of the manatee.”

The sponsors of the ad, the Network for Okinawa and the Japan-U.S. Citizens for Okinawa network, want to send a message to the Obama administration that a significant number of Americans support Okinawan concerns about the environmental and social consequences of U.S. military bases on the island. The ad challenges the prevailing consensus in Washington that the Futenma base is essential to U.S. national security.

The full-page ad coincides with a letter sent to President Obama and Prime Minister Hatoyama, signed by more than 500 organizations, that demands the immediate closure of Futenma and the cancellation of plans to relocate it to Henoko Bay. The letter can read at:

http://closethebase.org/2010/03/13/center-for-biological-diversity-sign-on-letter/

The full-page ad is the work of concerned U.S. and Japanese citizens who formed the Network for Okinawa (NO) and the Japan-U.S. Citizens for Okinawa Network (JUCON) earlier this year. JUCON  (http://jucon.exblog.jp/) is a coalition of Okinawa and Japan-based NGOs, citizens groups, journalists and prominent individuals. The Network for Okinawa (http://closethebase.org/). the US-based NGOs, draws together representatives from peace groups, environmental organizations, faith-based organizations, academia, and think tanks. It is sponsored by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington. Members include: American Conservative Defense Alliance, American Friends Service Committee, Center for Biological Diversity, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Greenpeace, Institute for Policy Studies, Just Foreign Policy,Pax Christi USA, the United Methodist Chuch, Veterans for Peace, and Women for Genuine Security.

Members of the Network for Okinawa available for interviews:

• Peter Galvin, Center for Biological Diversity.
pgalvin@biologicaldiversity.org; 520-907-1533.

• Kyle Kajihiro, Program Director, American Friends Service Committee
– Hawai’i Area Office. kyle.kajihiro@gmail.com; O: 808-988-6266; C:
808-542-3668.

• John Lindsay-Poland, Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation Latin
America program, Oakland, California, is active in the global No Bases
network and author of Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of
the US in Panama (Duke). johnlp@igc.org; C: 510-282-8983.

• Doug Bandow, Robert A. Taft Fellow, American Conservative Defense
Alliance and former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan.
ChessSet@aol.com; 703-451-9169.

• Ann Wright, Retired Army Colonel, former US. Diplomat.
microann@yahoo.com; C: 808-741-1141.