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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Leaving Okinawa

We've apparently come to an agreement with Japan on moving some US Marines out of Okinawa. But not all will go to Guam because of cost issues:

According to Bloomberg, the new announcement will include a drastic scaling back of the number of troops headed to Guam, diverting about half of the 8,000 slated to leave Japan to Australia, Hawaii, or the Philippines.

I suppose that answers one of my questions about whether our planned deployment would be in addition to our forces in the western Pacific or just a move of existing forces.

If it is to be the Philippines, I doubt it would be permanent but would be training rotations. The Philippines likes that idea:

U.S. and Philippine commandos waded ashore on Wednesday in a mock assault to retake a small island in energy-rich waters disputed with China, part of a drill involving thousands of troops Beijing had said would raise the risk of armed conflict.

The exercises, part of annual U.S.-Philippine war games on the southwestern island of Palawan, coincide with another standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal in a different part of the South China Sea.

The Marines may well be planning an islet-hopping strategy in the South China Sea where small units of good troops fight over tiny islets. Spreading out the Marines wouldn't be a problem if that is the strategy for coping with Chinese territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.