Why the United States can't leave Okinawa
By Gary Anderson - - Tuesday, April 30, 2019
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Okinawa is in American headlines — usually when an American serviceman commits a horrific crime — an average of about once every 10 years. In this decade, there have been two serious incidents, but it had been nearly a decade before two occurred. For those not familiar with it, Okinawa is an island prefecture (equivalent of an American state) located at the intersection of the East China and Philippine Seas south of Japan proper. The vast majority its population are indigenous Ryukyuan, not native Japanese. The island was captured by U.S. forces in 1945 in the bloodiest battle of World War II in the Pacific. American forces have been stationed there ever since even though the island was reverted back to Japanese control in the mid-1970s.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/30/why-the-united-states-cant-leave-okinawa/
