The head of the Okinawan Defense Bureau compared the relocation of the Futenma military base to Henoko to an act of rape and may lose his job because of it. It was probably a poor political choice of words given the politically charged atmosphere in Okinawa regarding U.S. military bases and the many crimes committed by U.S. troops there. However, it is probably the most honest description of the attitude of the U.S. and Japan towards the bases in Okinawa. Here’s an excerpt from the Asahi Shimbun:
The director-general of the Okinawa Defense Bureau may lose his job after he reportedly compared the delayed release of an environment assessment report on the planned relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps air base to warning someone about being raped.
“Would you say, ‘I will rape you,’ before you rape someone?” Satoshi Tanaka is reported to have said in an unofficial meeting with reporters on Nov. 28.
Tanaka allegedly made the comparison when asked why the government was waffling on the submission date of an assessment report on the environmental impact of the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
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