Hey Win

[Bob Forsythe]

Believe it or not, I'm asking for an honest opinion from you. What would happen to the Okinawan economy if we were to shut down there? Quite frankly I see no reason to have any military presence on Okinawa but you know it far better than I do. I just think that the American empire has caused places like Okinawa to be dependent upon our military bases.

=Bob

[Aztec89]

I say, let's find out.

If the 3rd Marine Division had not been on Okinawa in 1964, Lyndon Johnson may not have been so tempted to send them to Da Nang...

[aztecwin]

Aug 17, 2011 17:22:48 GMT -8 Bob Forsythe said:

Believe it or not, I'm asking for an honest opinion from you. What would happen to the Okinawan economy if we were to shut down there? Quite frankly I see no reason to have any military presence on Okinawa but you know it far better than I do. I just think that the American empire has caused places like Okinawa to be dependent upon our military bases.

=Bob

It is hard to say and I don't think we will find out. Most of those plans and initiatives have kind of petered out. A bigger issue is how mainland Japanese have taken over lot of business in Okinawa and how they steer the tourists to Japan owned resorts etc. Japan treats Okinawa like crap. Too bad, because I like both cultures and both sets of people.

[aztecwin]

Aug 17, 2011 17:37:59 GMT -8 Aztec89 said:

I say, let's find out.

If the 3rd Marine Division had not been on Okinawa in 1964, Lyndon Johnson may not have been so tempted to send them to Da Nang...

We will never know. One of the issues that the Okinawans have is the unfair extra burden they have in hosting the bulk of the approximately 47 thousand US troops and their families. From that point of view you would conclude that the Okinawans do not fear the economic impact of a draw down in troop levels.

A more interesting discussion would be about that Democratic Congressman who feared relocating huge numbers of troops from Okinawa to Guam would cause Guam to tip over.

[Bob Forsythe]

Aug 18, 2011 12:27:00 GMT -8 aztecwin said:

Aug 17, 2011 17:37:59 GMT -8 Aztec89 said:

I say, let's find out.

If the 3rd Marine Division had not been on Okinawa in 1964, Lyndon Johnson may not have been so tempted to send them to Da Nang...

We will never know. One of the issues that the Okinawans have is the unfair extra burden they have in hosting the bulk of the approximately 47 thousand US troops and their families. From that point of view you would conclude that the Okinawans do not fear the economic impact of a draw down in troop levels.

A more interesting discussion would be about that Democratic Congressman who feared relocating huge numbers of troops from Okinawa to Guam would cause Guam to tip over.

Well, I suppose you'd think so but I wasn't asking for a political answer. I don't know that much about Okinawa and I'd like to know more about its economy. But I will say your initial response was a good one. I'm not always trolling.

=Bob