Military

DATE=8/26/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-318496

TITLE=JAPAN/U.S. MILITARY L-ONLY

BYLINE=STEVE HERMAN

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Japan, U.S. Still Discussing Force

Realignment

INTRO: The commander of the U.S. forces in Japan says Tokyo and Washington continue to discuss changes to the American military bases in Japan. VOA's Steve Herman reports from Tokyo that it remains unclear how the Pentagon's global force restructuring will affect Japan.

TEXT: Lieutenant General Thomas Waskow says the Japanese government has considerable input in talks on changing the U.S. military presence in the country.

/// WASKOW ACT ///

"The Secretary of Defense's staff is very sensitive to the Japanese review of our initial proposals and, in fact, they have changed significantly from the original group of proposals."

/// END ACT ///

At a news briefing in Tokyo Thursday, he said Japan and the United States have been discussing possible changes for the past 18 months.

The U.S. military has dozens of bases in Japan, with more than 50-thousand troops in the country. It employs thousands of Japanese civilians, as well as American expatriates. The Japanese government pays half of the eight billion dollar annual cost of running the bases.

Earlier this month, President Bush announced a plan to withdraw up to 70-thousand troops from overseas bases. About half of them are expected to be moved out of Germany, but so far, U.S. officials have not said if any troops will leave Japan.

General Waskow declined to speculate on when decisions on changes would be announced.

The two allies did agree in 1996 to reduce the burden of the U.S. military presence on the southern island of Okinawa, where half of the troops are based.

The Japanese and U.S. governments are facing increased calls from Okinawa for changes after the August 13th crash of a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter there. Although no one was killed, the incident angered people on the island.

Japanese agencies were upset about not being included in the crash investigation and island residents are angry that flights were resumed quickly.

General Waskow says the U.S. military followed proper procedures in handling the crash.

/// REST OPT ///

/// WASKOW 2nd ACT ///

"Our response was conducted precisely within the confines of the agreements that we have with the government of Japan and our own internal United States military guidance."

/// END ACT ///

Okinawa's governor is demanding that the defense agreement with the United States be changed to allow local police to examine crash sites. (signed)

NEB/HK/SH/KPD