Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous American philosopher once said, “Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” For the people of Okinawa, United States military bases have been a problem since the American occupation of the islands in 1945. There have been violent clashes between American servicemen and Okinawan citizens, such as the Koza Riot in 1970, but violence hasn’t solved the problem. Recently, the United States Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, frequently referred to as the “world’s most dangerous air base”, has been in the spotlight as politicians try to work out disputes. Understanding all the sides to the issue regarding the problem at Futenma and its relocation might be the only way this decade long matter can be resolved and bring peace back to the citizens.
Futenma was built more than half a century ago, after the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, when the United States military built this base in the ruins of the villages that once stood there. After the war, as people who had lived in the villages started to return, they found their homes replaced by a military base. As a result, people began to live along the base and even today the densely populated Ginowan City encloses the airfield. Because Futenma is an operational military base, military jets repeat takeoffs and landings multiple times a day. Jets roar over the heads of those living in Ginowan City as well as clouding them with fear that one of the aircrafts might cause an accident harming an innocent bystander. In 1996, both the Japanese and the United States governments agreed to close the air base at Futenma if a replacement site was found. Recently, Henoko in the Nago region has been brought up in discussions as the p...
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...ears as if when one solution is found, another door to another problem is opened regarding this issue. The local voice for the people of Nago has been heard when they reelected a mayor who has completely opposed the relocation plan at Futenma. However, politicians in Tokyo try to use money to lure the negotiations in their favor, when in reality, the focus should be on the voice of the local people. Is the authority in Tokyo being pressured by a foreign power? The people of Okinawa might be always on the losing end of the stick and on the other end, a foreign country being paid billions of dollars just to remain as a symbol of power to other countries in Asia. The only way to solve is not through violence, but through understanding on both sides. “Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding”, no matter how long it takes.
Most of us would like to think that history is based on civil negotiations between representatives from around the world. The fact is, war has always been a disease that spreads not only in the battle field, and infects all those who come in contact with it. In the case of nuclear weapons, the United States, like many countries, raced to produce some of the most deadly weapons. Kristen Iversen shares her experiences surrounding a nuclear production facility in Boulder Colorado called Rocky Flats. The events at Rocky Flats are fuelled by secrecy and widespread hazards, it is the integration of these concepts to various aspects of her life that are at the center of Full Body Burden.
The Unnatural Causes: Collateral damage video directed by Stange (2008), explains how the U.S. military has contributed to the disruption of the Marshallese culture, life, and overall good health. The army base Kwajalein and the island of Ebeye are only three miles apart and are living in completely different worlds. The Marshallese people living in Ebeye suffer from high rates of Tuberculosis (TB), poverty, and crowding. The Marshallese people are also suffering from high rates of chronic diseases. The video lastly explains the everlasting impact that the U.S. military has inflicted on Marshallese people through dislocation.
Some 1,500 “enemy aliens” who were thought to have connections with Japan were immediately rounded up and interned by the De...
Ives, Christopher. "Wartime Nationalism and Peaceful Representation: Issues Surrounding the Multiple Zens of Modern Japan ." Japan Studies Review Five (2001): 37-46. Print.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Battle of Iwo Jima or Operation Detachment, the events that caused the battle and the after effects it had on the United States. The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the most major battles of WWII of 1945. Although, during WWII many battles were fought this was one of the most important because, American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island including its three airfields, to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. It was the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of War World II. The battles itself was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman.
Olson, James S., and Randy Roberts. My Lai: A Brief History With Documents. Boston: Bedford, 1998
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan ("Battle of Okinawa," 1996). The Battle of Okinawa remembered more for its iconic photograph of US Marines raising the US flag on Okinawa more so than any other war or battle ever fought. Okinawa the largest of the Ryukus islands played a major role in the American forces overall strategic efforts to advance to the mainland’s of Japan. Because it was the last major battle of WWII, the battle of Okinawa used lessons learned and TTP’s from all previous battles with the Japanese to successfully employ combined striking power of the services and techniques of amphibious operations.
Rice, Rondall. "Bombing Auschwitz: US 15Th Air Force And The Military Aspects Of A Possible Attack." War In History 6.2 (1999): 205. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Twenty years after the First World War, humanity was, yet again, plagued with more hostility. September 1st, 1939 marked the start of World War II, this time, with new players on the board. Waves of fear and paranoia rippled throughout the United States, shaking its’ very foundation of liberty and justice for all. The waves powerfully crashed onto a single ethnic group, the Japanese-Americans, who had their rights and respect pulled away from them. They were seen as traitors and enemies in their own country, and were thrown into prison camps because of it. This event marks one of the absolute lowest points in United States history and has changed the course of the country as a whole.
At the turn of the century, Russia was the largest nation in Europe, both in terms of population and land area. It also had a powerful army and navy, which in addition to its vast territory made it almost unthinkable for any nation to attempt to wage a war against it. Why then had Russia not only been defeated, but suffered tremendous and uneven casualties compared to the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War? This loss, which later had dire consequences for the Russian empire, occurred because of inadequate preparation, poor leadership, and simply bad luck which plagued the Russian military forces in the Pacific.
During the latter parts of World War II, the war news was encouraging, and Americans were starting to tire of war bond drives, scarcity, rationing and the constant trickle of dead American men fighting for acres of other people’s land and freedoms. Reversals like the “Battle of the Bulge” in December 1944-January 1945 promised that defeating Nazi Germany would continue to be immensely costly, while Pelileu and the Luzon campaign in the Pacific showed that the Japanese were willing and able to go to inhuman lengths to defend their Imperial heritage. It was one thing to motivate Americans to pay to destroy enemy aircraft carriers, battleships, and divisions from the air, it was quite another to induce them to finance the exploration of occupied “spider holes” by their own sons for the sake of conquering a beach of an inhospitable speck of an island that seemingly had little significance in the war as a whole.
A nation’s decision to go to war is not one that can be taken lightly. War requires a great deal of sacrifice and more often than not, results in a great deal of pain for an entire nation. For some, the humiliation of defeat may be worse than any physical pain one car endured. As Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War by Akira Iriye shows, Japanese leaders decided that war with the USA was in the best interest of their nation, knowing full well the cost of war. The Japanese leaders` anxiety over the self preservation and self defence of their nation, their anxiety over perceived hostile attitudes from the west, and the importance of making a timely decision on war led them on a path that resulted in war with the USA.
M. E. McGuinness (Eds.), Words Over War: Mediation and Arbitration to Prevent Deadly Conflict (pp. 293-320). New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
The responsibility of the existing government bears for its historical misconduct of “Japanese’s American Civilians” & “The Bureau of Indian Affairs giving an apology to both civilians. The government today look back in the past were the United States enforced its ambition against civilians remove them out of their homes by threat, deceit, and force. And now sees the burdens of their agency’s history. The United States gave a speech for equality and forgiveness.
De Lira Jr., G. 2009. The Anger of a Great Nation: Operation Vigilant Resolve. Retrieved November 09, 2013, from http//www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltect/u2/a509044.pdf.