Opinion

Why not Camp Disney?

By Douglas Lummis

This essay is addressed to those readers who support the Japan-U.S. Mutual Security Treaty, (AMPO). If you positively support this treaty, or if you'ｖe never done anything in particular to oppose it, then I'm talking to you.

Here in Okinawa, smack in the middle of crowded city of Ginowan, there is a big U.S. Marine Corps facility called Futenma Airbase. Huge C130 transport planes and giant helicopters fly in and out of it daily, rattling windows below. Everybody knows that it's crazy to have an airbase there, and that it has to be moved. Recently some 18,000 protesters gathered outside the base and joined hands to completely encircle it. Even U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said that it has to go.

The question is, go where?

The U.S. and Japanese governments want to move it to northern Okinawa, near a village called Henoko. They want to fill in part of a beautiful bay with dirt, destroying the coral which is the habitat for the rare dugong and other sea life, build a big heliport (all paid for with Japanese taxpayers' money) and present it to the U.S. Marines.

Unsurprisingly, Okinawans who want the base out of Okinawa altogether, and environmentalists who don't want the sea to be further destroyed, are opposed to this. A sit-in was held at Henoko to prevent construction from beginning.

Where, then, should the Futenma base go?

As an American, I think it should go back to the United States. There's plenty of space in Texas, for example, or in the desert areas of Nevada or Montana.

But you, as a supporter of AMPO, think it should be in Japan (that's what "supporting AMPO" means). If you really believe U.S. bases are vital to Japan's security, shouldn't you be willing to put one near your home, rather than forcing them on the Okinawans?

Let us suppose you live in the Kanto area (as I suspect many Shukan ST readers do). Where would be a good place to relocate the Futenma base? My first thought was, why not Tokyo Disneyland? As Japanese politics becomes increasingly militaristic, we often hear politicians saying that citizens should be willing to sacrifice their lives for their country. If you are willing to sacrifice your life, shouldn't you also be willing to sacrifice Tokyo Disneyland? And certainly tearing down Disneyland would be better than destroying the irreplaceable coral reef off Henoko.

But then it was pointed out to me, that's too mean to the children. OK, we won't tear down Disneyland. Then where? I'm sure there are golf courses that are big enough. And there are those theme parks that are going bankrupt anyway.

While I was thinking these thoughts, a photograph appeared in the paper showing Tokyo Disneyland and the huge parking lot next to it. I thought, that's it! There's no need to knock down Disneyland itself; the parking lot is surely big enough. That would be no great sacrifice. You could still get to Disneyland by train, bus or taxi - a minor inconvenience. And when the planes and helicopters come roaring in and out, that shouldn't bother anyone. You can tell your children that it's all part of the new show at Camp Disney.

Shukan ST: June 18, 2004

(C) All rights reserved