Troops on Okinawa
* The citizens of Okinawa, Japan, just had a nonbinding referendum in which they voted to oust American servicemen from their midst (Sept. 9). Who can blame them? Last year three American embarrassments planned and carried out the rape of a 12-year-old child. How would we react to such a heinous crime perpetrated by foreign soldiers stationed in our own community? We’d probably be ready to lynch them! But the more important issue is why we are there in the first place.
The Cold War is over. China is no threat to Japan. We have troops elsewhere in the East Asian theater. We have spy satellites to see what’s happening there. We have naval vessels and Air Force planes that can be there in a few hours. So, why are we there? Why are we spending diminishing defense dollars keeping American men and women where they’re not needed and certainly not wanted?
I invite the Clinton administration to provide even one reasonable justification for not extricating our troops from all of Japan, now.
LEONARD TACHNER
Newport Beach
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