This is an aerial view of the base:
It is a war crime to put military targets close to civilians where the civilians would shield the military asset.
Mind you, this isn't what the Marines did. The Marines had an air station and--if memory serves me--the civilians have crowded the perimeter of the base. But the point is that the civilians are just way too damned close.
An enemy could hardly be expected--and the laws of war for the most part don't require it--to refrain from attacking the base out of fear of civilian casualties.
And if an enemy does attack and civilians do die, who is responsible? The Marines for being there? Japan or the Okinawa government for letting the civilians crowd the base?
I'll be happier when the Marines relocate to a less populated part of Okinawa and I have no idea why there is opposition to ending this potential war crime that somebody is guilty for.
