US troop relocation in Okinawa

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/26/news/okinawa.php

Reading the article, I'm reminded a question that has long plagued me: What the fuck are they doing there in the first place? When I read about the rape.. 7 fucking years? They get 15 in the US.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9603/okinawa_rape/

Why are troops even in Japan? NO JAPANESE EXCEPT THE POLITICIANS WANT THEM THERE. It's one of the most peaceful and liberal places on the face of the earth, and we need a killing-machine airbase in it? Is this dollar-gunboat diplomacy or are we going to pull the fucking "need to watch Korea" excuse?

I'll never understand why America needed to go this route and become just another asshole superpower. The founders wouldn't have wanted this.

>>11

It was never about protecting Japan. Keeping an eye on the rest of Southeast Asia so the Communists and Dictatorships don't do anything funny is more like it. The bases were used in the Korean and Vietnam war, and deployed units after the tsunami, so they're staying to keep the US presence in the area.

Japan's stuck with the short end of the stick since they lost the war and happens to be the only country in the area the US forces can put a base on. Saying no to a military base would anger Japan's largest trading partner, and any economic fallout that ensues will hurt Japan more than a few drunken soldiers ever will. This would leave China as Japan's largest trading partner, and it scares the shit out of most Japanese. China, like anonymous, does not forgive.