The Shake Up in Japan

Dan Twining writes about the political tsunami nearing Japan:

In the event of an LDP loss next month, the Obama administration will be forced to grapple in the near term with the DPJ's pledge to renegotiate the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that has governed the terms of the U.S. troop presence in Japan since 1960. As part of these discussions, Japan will insist on renegotiating the way the two countries share the cost of the U.S. military presence in Japan. DPJ leaders argue that the current formula, in which Japan funds the garrisoning of U.S. forces because they are there to protect Japan, must be rebalanced. This is not the message American taxpayers will want to hear.

The DPJ also wants to further reduce the footprint of U.S. troops in Okinawa, particularly with regard to military and training operations from Futenma air base. Putting the closure or relocation of Futenma at the top of the U.S.-Japan security agenda -- after years of painful negotiations toward an acceptable compromise between American and Japanese counterparts -- risks reopening a raw wound in the alliance. At a time of grave security challenges to Japan stemming from ongoing North Korean missile launches and China's aggressive military buildup next door, a public spat over U.S. basing arrangements in Okinawa risks sending the wrong message to Japan's adversaries.

I don't pretend to be an expert on U.S.-Japanese relations, so here's what I don't understand. Why do we presume to know the correct remedy to the "grave security challenges" facing the Japanese?

And if the Japanese want us to pony up more money to pay for bases on their territory which are in place ostensibly to defend Japan, why shouldn't we bow to their wishes and lower our footprint? It would seem odd indeed for President Obama to argue that the U.S. needs to go even deeper in debt to underwrite the security of Japan when the Japanese no longer want to pay for the privilege and are in any event insisting we downsize.

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Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso. Photo Credit: AP Photos