Site Fwd: The Asia-Pacific Journal on Okinawa & Guam: Exposing Impracticality of Military Expansion Plans & Exploding the "Deterrence" Myth

* Text fwd also from Martha Duenas on March 1, 2011

Ten Thousand Things blog:
Monday, February 28, 2011
The Asia-Pacific Journal on Okinawa & Guam: Exposing Impracticality of Military Expansion Plans & Exploding the "Deterrence" Myth

(Half-completed military buildup housing project disrupts the skyline of a neighborhood in Guam. The contractor, Younex, is facing questions about impacts on Northern Guam water resources and its relationship with permitting agencies, including the Guam Land Use Commission, and a court decision that voided a zoning variance. The South Korean construction company halted work on these luxury condominums intended for sale to buildup carpetbaggers after the Korean government ordered banks to suspend further loans to the financially struggling main contractor, Hanil Corp., last summer. Photo: Matt Wei, Marianas Variety)

U.S. military expansion projects in Okinawa and Guam have faced nonstop local opposition; allegations of corruption between construction companies and governmental agencies; and environmental and historic preservation issues, since they were announced. Two new articles from The Asia-Pacific Journal examine the unraveling of these plans and their shaky ontological basis.

Michiyo Yonamine's "Economic Crisis Shakes US Forces Overseas: The Price of Base Expansion in Okinawa and Guam":

While questions are raised in Washington on the roles of Marines, US and Japanese governments are proceeding with plans to build new USMC facilities in Northern Okinawa.

...the overwhelming majority of American scholars and experts I interviewed (Mike Mochizuki, George Washington Univ.; Morton Halperin, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; Richard Samuels, MIT; Barry Posen, MIT; Andrew Bacevitch, Boston Univ.) believed that it was impossible to relocate to Henoko, and that the Marine Corps in Okinawa no longer plays any role in US military strategies...

Given US plans to strengthen the bases on Guam, including transferring the Okinawa Marines there, it has no resources to spare to intervene in other countries. In September the DoD announced it would postpone completion of the transfer originally planned for 2014 due to lack of preparedness on Guam. The infrastructure cannot cope with the sudden influx of the Marines, their families and construction workers...

The US military’s pattern of extending bases in accordance simply with their perceived military and strategic value, without any understanding of local circumstances, history and culture, is precisely what is happening in Okinawa. Regarding the construction of replacement facilities in Henoko, Japanese and US governments say that this is ‘not construction of a new base but relocation to the pre-existing Camp Schwab’; but since they are constructing runways where there was nothing before, extending the base in this way is the same as what is occurring on Guam. The US government’s argument that “the transfer to Guam is not progressing because the Futenma issue is stagnating” can no longer be accepted. This is a situation unique to the US. And if the delay is due to domestic circumstances in the US, packaging Guam with Futenma will not work. Four and a half years on since the 2006 announcement of the restructuring of US Forces, the agreement is coming apart at the seams.




(U.S. Marines have not engaged in any amphibious assaults since World War II (except for training). Recent disembarkment of 14 Marine amphibious assault tanks on Henoko's beach damaged coral and disturbed the feeding area of the critically endangered Okinawa dugong, angering Okinawans, who consider Marine training in Okinawa an assault on their natural environment.

Norimatsu Satoko's "Hatoyama's Confession: The Myth of Deterrence and the Failure to Move a Marine Base Outside Okinawa":

In a joint interview held in Tokyo on January 31 and February 8 with the two Okinawan papers and the Kyodo News Agency, former Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio conceded that he had just given “deterrence” as the factor necessitating retention of the US Marine Corps on Okinawa (and hence the building of a new Okinawa base for them) because he needed a pretext.

Text Fwd: [famoksaiyanfriends] High-Rise Project Delayed: Construction Company Ordered to Restructure

* Text Sent by Martha Duenas on July 05, 2010

Guampdn.com
High-Rise Project Delayed: Construction Company Ordered to Restructure

By Amritha Alladi • Pacific Daily News • July 5, 2010

The construction of the Emerald Oceaniew Park condominium project in Jonestown, Tamuning, has been delayed about 90 days as a result of a government-ordered restructuring by South Korea, where the builder has its headquarters.

South Korea-based Hanil Construction and Engineering Korea was one of a handful of building companies selected for "work out," a restructuring to include more oversight by the South Korean government, confirmed David Tydingco, senior vice president for Younex Enterprises Corp. on Guam.

Younex International is the developer for the Emerald Oceanview Park. Younex Enterprises Corp., which is a separate and distinct special purpose entity, is a consortium of companies that include STX Construction Korea, Orix Japan, and the Military Mutual Aid Association of Korea, according to the corporation.

"What I understand is there have been a number of construction companies in Korea that have overbuilt housing, so what has happened is a number of construction companies that were actually closed down by the government had the inventory taken by the government for public housing," Tydingco said.

Hanil was one of nine companies allowed to restructure with government support, a press release stated.

On Guam, Hanil Construction Co. Ltd. is the general contractor in charge of constructing the Emerald Oceanview Park Verace on the Jonestown cliff line.

Four condominium towers and 20 villa-style luxury homes will be built at the site as part of the project, which has been estimated to cost $100 million, according to Pacific Daily News files.

The condominium project was planned, in part, in anticipation of a larger population on Guam stemming from the military buildup, according to Pacific Daily News files.

About 8,000 Marines and their 9,000 dependents are scheduled to relocate from Guam to Okinawa by 2014. The relocation of those Marines will begin as early as November, according to Pacific Daily News files

Tydingco said they found out about the restructuring last week, but the projected target is to have the development completed next year, as planned.

According to a press release sent by Tydingco on July 2, Younex International Chief Executive Officer Kil Koo Yoon was advised by Hanil Construction and Engineering President Cho Young Nam that the Emerald Oceanview development was one of its priorities.

"We need to determine our Hanil situation and decide whether we proceed with them, see if the project is on schedule," Tydingco said.

Workforce village

As for the Ukudu Workforce Village adjacent to South Finegayan that's supposed to accommodate about 18,000 temporary workers, Tydingco said the project is on schedule to be completed by November and hasn't been affected by the Emerald Oceanview Park issue. The first 2,000 beds are expected to be available for occupancy by October 2010, according to Pacific Daily News files.

So far, it is the largest planned worker housing facility; the 75-acre facility would sit on a 252-acre property on the borders of Tamuning and Dededo.

It would operate as if it were its own village, providing workers three meals a day, transportation to and from work sites and non-work activities, a 24-hour medical clinic and security/fire response capability, organized recreational activities, religious services, laundry services, banking services, convenience stores, and other ancillary services, Tydingco said in December.