Text Fwd: Guam: Small Pacific Island Becoming A U.S. Strategic Hub 괌, 작은 태평양 섬, 미국의 전략적 허브가 되다.

* Image source: Minagahet Chamorro blog on Sept. 23, 2010
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* Text from Rick Rozoff on Sept. 23, 2010

CNSNews
September 22, 2010
Small Pacific Island Becoming A U.S. Strategic Hub
By Patrick Goodenough
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-Guam, which is currently home to U.S. Navy facilities and Andersen Air Force Base, has long been a functional forward-deployed location for the military, and in 2000 became the first installation outside the continental U.S. to store long-range air-launched cruise missiles, easily accessible in the event of a future conflict in the region.

-In another sign of its growing importance, Andersen on Monday became the first permanent U.S. base to deploy an RQ-4 Global Hawk, the advanced unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft slated in time to replace the venerable U-2 spy plane.

Andersen is scheduled to get three Global Hawks, which are capable of flying at high altitudes for long-distance missions lasting 30 hours or more, tracking moving targets and intercepting ground communications.
__________________________________________________________

The signing of a document on Guam Tuesday marked the beginning of a historic build-up of U.S. military assets on the small Pacific island, part of an alignment of forces designed to better handle future security challenges in a key part of the world.

The plan calls for the relocation to Guam of 8,600 U.S. Marines and their estimated 9,000 dependents, from Japan’s Okinawa some 1,400 miles to the northwest; the construction of a deepwater wharf capable of accommodating visiting nuclear-powered aircraft carriers; and the development of a U.S. Army air and missile defense facility, to provide a defensive umbrella for the military assets.

Some Marine training facilities also are expected to be built on Tinian island, 100 miles to the north – part of the Northern Marianas, a U.S. commonwealth.

Guam, which is currently home to U.S. Navy facilities and Andersen Air Force Base, has long been a functional forward-deployed location for the military, and in 2000 became the first installation outside the continental U.S. to store long-range air-launched cruise missiles, easily accessible in the event of a future conflict in the region.

But now it is on track to become a much more important strategic hub and staging point for the U.S. as the closest military presence on U.S. soil to regional hot spots such as North Korea and the Taiwan Strait. Guam is about 3,700 miles closer to the Korean peninsula than is Hawaii.

Being U.S. territory, Guam also meets the “freedom of action” requirement, the absence of which has at times hampered U.S. forces based in America’s main regional military allies, Japan and South Korea.

In another sign of its growing importance, Andersen on Monday became the first permanent U.S. base to deploy an RQ-4 Global Hawk, the advanced unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft slated in time to replace the venerable U-2 spy plane.

Andersen is scheduled to get three Global Hawks, which are capable of flying at high altitudes for long-distance missions lasting 30 hours or more, tracking moving targets and intercepting ground communications.
....
At Naval Base Guam on Tuesday, a U.S. Navy “record of decision” was signed, marking what the Joint Guam Program Office (JGPO) executive director, retired Marine Maj. Gen. David Bice, called the “transition point” for the major project.

When then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Guam during a 2003 visit to Northeast Asia to first discuss force repositioning options Gov. Felix Camacho and Guam’s congressional delegate, Madeleine Bordallo, urged him to consider deploying more U.S. personnel there. They also wanted the Pentagon to choose Guam over Hawaii as the homeport for the first nuclear-powered carrier to be permanently stationed outside the continental U.S.

Although they did not get their wish on the carrier homeport – Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan was chosen instead to house the USS George Washington – Guam will see a significant influx of military personnel and dependents in the coming years.

The report signed Tuesday estimates that the population increase on Guam will total around 34,000, although it will reach double that for a limited period while construction work is underway.

The influx will have a big impact on the island, which is about three times the size of Washington, D.C., and has a population of around 178,000 people, about 40 percent of them indigenous Chamorros.

....
Two sensitive aspects of the plans relate to the location of a live-fire training range near an ancient Chamorro village, raising heritage preservation concerns; and the impact of the carrier berth on coral reefs. The document signed Tuesday deferred final decisions on those two issues, allowing more time for consultation and marine surveys of possible alternative berth sites.

The U.S. Marines’ move to Guam by 2014 is part of a broader bilateral agreement with Japan, aimed at reducing the U.S. military footprint on Okinawa while retaining U.S. commitments to provide for the defense and security of Japan. As such, Japan agreed in 2006 to carry just under 60 percent of the costs of the relocation.
===========================
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Text Fwd:[Masanao Kano] "Tokyo must answer Okinawa's cries of agony"

* Text Fwd from J. D. on July 14, 2010

Asahi Newspaper
SPECIAL TO THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
POINT OF VIEW/ Masanao Kano: Tokyo must answer Okinawa's cries of agony
2010/07/14

Tokyo and Washington have reached a new agreement on the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture. While the accord is extremely close to the existing plan, there are also signs that the Okinawa problem might move forward, albeit slightly.

Last year's change of government gave hope to the people of Okinawa that they may finally be about to part company with the politics of necessitarianism; in doing so, they inevitably made the U.S. bases problem one that does not concern Okinawa alone, but the entire nation. The movement to reject U.S. military bases started with a sit-in protest in Nago's Henoko district at the close of the last century, and has already reached the stage of no-return.

As a mainlander, while shaken by the events in Okinawa, I feel the situation has given rise to a wide variety of flashpoints that could spark ideological controversy. Why does Okinawa alone have to suffer? The frustration and anger that arose among residents led to cries of "discrimination" and a "rift" with the rest of Japan.

With Okinawa's agony etched in my mind, I can recognize that at least two major questions are being addressed to us.

One is that the core assertion of Okinawans is not "relocation" of U.S. bases but their "removal" and "closure" altogether. The assertion is based on three political viewpoints:

* Their judgment that they do not need the U.S. Marine presence;

* Their refusal to entertain any attempt to strengthen the functions of the bases in the guise of relocation; and

* Their determination that they will no longer accept the status quo of having to make an agonizing choice or settle for second best.

Another reason they argue for the removal and closure of the bases is that they don't want to pass their burdens on to others through relocation of the facilities.

In short, their awareness is changing. They are now hoping to exist without bases, as many mainland people do, instead of continuing to share the sufferings of other base-hosting communities.

In trying to sever the negative chain reaction of shared suffering, they are also trying to fight on behalf of Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture as well as Guam and Tinian in the western Pacific Ocean, thereby transcending national borders.

They are concerned that the rights to self-determination of those islanders could be disregarded.

The other point is that the vast majority of Okinawans share the historical view that their island prefecture's primary role for the past 65 years has been to serve as a site for U.S. military bases.

Okinawa reverted to Japanese sovereignty in 1972. But the significance of that date is rapidly fading in their minds.

When the hand-over of sovereignty was decided in the late 1960s, Seizen Nakasone (1907-1995), a teacher who led the Himeyuri student corps, a group of female high school students who served as a nursing unit for the Imperial Japanese Army during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, heaved a sigh of grief. He said, "For the past 24 years, we have been calling for reversion to Japan. What we achieved is the situation in which we must keep repeating, from square one, the movement to call for a reduction of bases."

Looking back, we realize that is precisely what Okinawa has kept doing, just as Nakasone predicted.

This status aroused anger and grief among Okinawans because they thought that Okinawa had yet to enter the postwar period in a proper sense. At the time of the Battle of Okinawa, Tokyo positioned Okinawa as "a sacrifice stone." U.S. forces occupying the island saw it as "a keystone."

It means that the Japanese government is trying to use Okinawa as a sacrifice stone to host the new base, which is a keystone for security policy. It also ensures that the new base is not built on the mainland.

Okinawa has been forced to bear the excessive burden of hosting bases under the pretext of deterrence in the event of emergencies. This "abnormal" situation has lasted so long that local people are numb to it. In that sense, the rejection of bases is none other than a declaration of their determination to take a new approach to the longstanding issue.

Okinawans have had many years to fine-tune their thoughts on the inequality they face in hosting so many U.S. bases. That is all the more reason they form those questions directly at the mainland.

It behooves us to squarely face another question; that is, whether the mainland has really thought about military emergencies. Rather, have we not taken the Japan-U.S. security alliance for granted and, in the process, become lackadaisical? These questions punch home.

So, how should we answer these questions posed by Okinawa? I believe what the Japanese government must do at this juncture is not to focus on the problem as a domestic issue but hold face-to-face talks with Washington and the U.S. military.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. As a political problem, the movement in Okinawa put before us the question whether the Japan-U.S. security system should be kept as it is. It may be a distant goal to abolish the security alliance.

But at least the government should present a package of three proposals:

* That the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement be revised;

* That sympathy budget allocations for U.S. forces stationed in Japan be scrapped; and

* That the Futenma airfield be closed.

Only when it does, can this year be the start of the process to re-examine the security alliance. I think voicing such thoughts is the least we can do to respond to the cries of agony of Okinawa.

* * *

Masanao Kano is a historian specializing in modern Japanese thought.

[Texts Fw] April 25, Okinawa Erupts in Yellow!

* Image source: Peace Philosophy Center_

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* Forward from Jean Downey on Apr 24, 2010

'From: Sayo saruta on April 23, 2010'

'You can see the Okinawan Rally by relay with the following website.
It is from 3 pm Japan time (2am DC time) until the end of the rally.

다음 웹사이트에서 오키나와 집회를 연달아 볼 수 있읍니다. 일본 시간으로 3시부터 (DC 시간으로 2시부터) 집회 끝까지 입니다.

http://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/page-148.html

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

Sayo'
________________________________________________________________
* From Makiko Sato on April 24, 2010

'Something in yellow color is desirable, if you show solidarity with Okinawa,
Jeju, Guam, Tinian, Hawaii, Vicenza, on, around or even after April 25th.
How about holding a yellow-colored paper with slogans on it?
Below is an email from Etsumi Tahira, a woman aged 75, who has been conducting
sit-ins for long with local women on the beach of Henoko, Okinawa.
Cheers'

'4월 25일 또는 그 이후라도 오키나와, 제주, 괌, 티니안, 하와이, 빈센차에 대한 연대를 표현하기 위해 노란색이 좋습니다. 구호가 쓰여진 노란색 종이를 들면 어떨까요?
아래는 75세된 여성, 에추미 타히라가에게서 온 이 메일로 오키나와 헤노코 해안에서 오랫동안 지역 여성들과 연좌 시위를 진행했습니다.
힘내세요. '

Below is an email from Etsumi Tahira, a woman aged 75, who has been conducting
sit-ins for long with local women on the beach of Henoko, Okinawa.

아래는 75세된 여성, 에추미 타히라가로 오키나와 헤노코 해안에서 오랫동안 지역 여성들과 연좌 시위를 진행했습니다.

....................( Estumi Tahira's email ).................
I hear SDFs bases throughout Japan are under the joint use with the US forces.

저는 일본 전역에 걸쳐 일본 자위대 기지들이 미 군대와 공동 사용되고 있다는 얘기를 듣습니다.

Those who visit Henoko talk about their anxiety about this situation.

헤노코를 방문하는 사람들은 이 상황에 대한 그들의 우려를 말합니다.

Does Japanese central government think that Japan is safe as long as it is a subject state under the US power ?

일본 중앙 정부는 일본이 미국의 권력을 따르는 한 안전하다고 생각하는 걸까요?

I do an early morning sit-in in front of the gate of Camp Shuwab every Friday,
then later move on to the Henoko Beach to conduct a vigil there.

저는 매주 금요일 이른 아침 캠프 슈와브 정문 앞에서 연좌를 하고 침번을 하기 위해 헤노코 해안으로 갑니다.

On the occasion of such morning sit-ins, about 90 banners are tied to the fence.

그러한 아침 연좌 때마다 약 90여 깃발들이 울타리에 묶여집니다.

American soldiers soon try to cut or burn them,
then, we take them away and bring them back. I bring to the sit-in site a flag in which
I wrote the Chinese letters of ' non-war Ryukyu Kingdom.'

미국 병사들은 그것들을 곧 자르거나 불태웁니다. 저는 ‘류큐 왕국 전쟁 반대’라고 제가 한자로 쓴 깃발을 연좌 장소에 가져갑니다.

At the planned rally on 25th by inhabitants of Okinawa Prefecture, we are supposed
to show our consolidated will by using the color of yellow.

오키나와 현 거주인들의 25일 계획된 집회에서 우리는 노란 색을 사용함으로서 우리의 뭉쳐진 의지를 보이기로 되어 있습니다.

Those unfortunate who cannot come over will do the same, wearing something yellow.
I'll go, with a yellow parasol, wearing a white one-piece dress of my own making, with
a lot of messages on it written in yellow water-paint.

안타깝게도 오실 수 없는 분들도 노란 색을 입고 같은 행동을 할 것입니다. 저 역시 노란색 양산에 노란색으로 쓰여진 많은 메시지들을 담은 제가 만든 하얀 옷을 입고 갈 것입니다.

________________________________________________________________
* Message forwarded from Makiko on April2 4, 2010

‘It is from Yumi Kikuchi, who has been for several years making continued efforts to look for and convey the truth of 911 to the Japanese. She thinks if Japan doesn't financially support the US' wars, which it does in various ways, then the world will become more peaceful.

아래는 유미 기구치에게서 온 것으로 그는 911의 진실을 몇 년간 꾸준히 찾고
일본인들에게 911의 진실을 알렸습니다. 그는 일본이 미국의 전쟁을 다양한 방면으로 재정적으로 돕지 않으면 세계는 좀 더 평화적으로 될 거라 생각하고 있습니다.

Dear People of Okinawa, Jeju, Guam, Hawaii and Vecenza ,

오키나와, 제주, 괌, 하와이, 그리고 빈센차의 사람들에게

I am sending my photo with one of my children to show my solidarity to your action on April 25, 2010. Imagine all the bases on Earth turned into organic gardens and parks for people!
Imagine Peace, Imagine Ministries and Departments of Peace in all nations.

저는 2010년 4월 25일 당신들에게 저의 연대를 보이기 위해 제 자녀들중 하나와 찍은 사진을 보냅니다. 지구의 모든 기지들이 유기농 정원들과 사람들을 위한 공원으로 바뀌어 지는 것을 상상해 보세요. 모든 국가들에 있을 평화 장관들과 부서들을 상상해 보세요.

love and peace, Yumi Kikuchi
author, peace & environmental activist
from her organic farm in Chiba.

사랑과 평화로,
유미 기구치
작가, 평화 및 환경 활동가
지바에 있는 유기농 농가에서

________________________________________________________________

* Fw from Jean Downy on April 24, 2010
2010년 4월 24일 진 다우니로부터

Gavan McCormack: Okinawan rally on 25th-unprecedented event in Japanese & World History

"The 25th becomes an unprecedented event in modern Japanese history, if not the world history," Gavan McCormack, Professor of Australian National University, shared his thoughts on the upcoming mass rally in Okinawa.

25일은 세계 역사가 아니라면, 현대 일본 역사에서 전례없는 날이 될 것이다. 개번 맥코맥, 호주 국립 대학 교수는 다가오는 오끼나와 군중 집회에 대한 자신의 생각을 다음과 같이 나누었다.

"Never before in Japanese history has an entire region stood up and said 'No' to the central state authorities. And it is so much the more remarkable because they are actually saying 'No' not just to Tokyo but to Washington."

"일본 역사상 지역 전체가 일어나 중앙 정부 당국에 아니오라고 말한 적은 이 전에 결코 없었다. 그리고 그것은 한층 더 주목할 만한데 단지 도쿄뿐만 아니라 워싱턴에 '실제로 아니오' 라고말하기 때문이다."

"And, not only that, they now almost certainly are going to win: they are going to impose their will upon the two most powerful governments in the world. For citizens to assert, successfully, their moral authority and their right to dictate to government(s) is really something to celebrate!

"그리고 그것뿐만 아니라 그들은 거의 확실히 이길 것이다: 그들은 세계에서 가장 힘있는 두 정부들에 그들의 의지를 개입시키고 있다. 시민들이 자신들의 도덕적 권위와 정부를 다스릴 권리를 성공적으로 주장하는 것은 진실로 축하할 만한 일이다.

"This may be a new phase in democracy. "

" 이것은 민주주의 새로운 국면이 될 것이다."
http://closethebase.org/
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* Text Fw from Kyle Kajihiro on April 24, 2010

[ap-nobases] Solidarity Statement from the Members of the Network for Okinawa


http://closethebase.org/2010/04/22/solidarity-statement-from-the-members-of-the-network-for-okinawa/

Solidarity Statement from the Members of the Network for Okinawa


April 25, 2010

Network for Okinawa

We, the members of the Network for Okinawa, represent many hundreds of thousands of Americans and people around the world who support democracy and environmental protection in Okinawa. Our grassroots network draws together representatives from U.S. and international peace groups, environmental organizations, faith-based organizations, academia, and think tanks.

Today we proudly announce our stand with the governor, the mayors, the media, the Henoko village elders, and the one million citizens of Okinawa; the thirty thousand residents of Tokunoshima, and the hundreds of thousands of citizens across Japan who support Okinawa. From across the Pacific Ocean, we support their demand for the closure of the Futenma U.S. Marine Base and opposition to any new military base construction in Okinawa and Tokunoshima Island.

We appeal to Prime Minister Hatoyama to keep his promise to the Okinawan people and honor their rejection of any new construction in Camp Schwab. This includes a proposal to build a runway within the base already rejected in the 1990’s. The mayor of Nago, Inamine Susumu reiterated this rejection this year. We also ask Prime Minister Hatoyama to reject the U.S.-Japan 2006 proposal to construct partially offshore runways. This expansion would destroy the coral reef which is the home to the Okinawan dugong, blue coral, and other species, It would damage beautiful Yanbaru Forest, home of many beautiful animals and plants, including endangered species.

We call upon President Obama, as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, to honor the Okinawan democratic decision to remove the U.S. Futenma Marine base out of their prefecture and their call for no further U.S. military base construction.

The U.S. military built its first military bases during the Battle of Okinawa to serve as a platform for an invasion into Japan, then ruled by an imperial militarist wartime regime. Over two hundred thousand Okinawan civilians, American soldiers, and Japanese soldiers died in the crossfire between the U.S. and Japan in that battle. It was the bloodiest in the Pacific War.

But the war’s end did not bring peace to Okinawa. The U.S. never dismantled its military bases and began to use them under its own Cold War military regime with a never-ending succession of enemies: Korea, Vietnam, Laos, China and the Soviet Union. Some U.S. and Japanese officials again imagine China a threat—despite détente and ever-increasing economic integration between China and the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia, and other nations that deems war very unlikely.

Former Okinawan governor Masahide Ota stated—that for Okinawans—the war never ended. Many Okinawans still experience anxiety and depression from wartime trauma. The remains of 4,000-5,000 dead Okinawans have yet to be collected. Unexploded bombs remain throughout the island. Over 5,000 Okinawans have been the victims of crimes committed by American soldiers. Mr. Ota, therefore, asks: “Why shall we start preparing for a new war, while the old war is not over yet?”

Network member Peter Galvin, Conservation Director of the Center for Biological Diversity states, “Destroying the environmental and social well-being of an area, even in the name of ‘national or global security,’ is itself like actively waging warfare against nature and human communities.”

The US government has repeatedly promised reform in Okinawa. The 1972 “reversion” of Okinawa from the U.S. to Japan did not result in promised demilitarization. Their latest proposal—first made in 1996 and renegotiated in 2006—does not “lighten a burden.” It instead would move U.S. military pollution, noise, and assaults from Ginowan City to untouched Henoko.

How many elections, resolutions, and mass-scale rallies does the Japanese government and US government need before they hear the message of the Okinawan people?

We, the many people in the U.S. and worldwide, of the Network for Okinawa–hear and support these messages for removal, not relocation of military bases from Okinawa.

To illustrate, we would like to share some individual remarks from our supporters:

Gavan McCormack, Australian National University professor states, “An alliance that treats the opinion of Okinawans with such contempt is not an alliance of or for democracy. The ‘free world’ used to be fiercely critical of Moscow for trampling on the opinions of Poles, Czechs, and Hungarians; now, in the name of ‘freedom,’ it is about to act in precisely the same way. Does freedom mean so little to those who pretend they defend it?”

John Lindsay-Poland, Director of Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Latin America program, states: “Military bases in Japan and other countries are material projections of the will of the U.S. to use war and violent force. War is not only brutal, unjust, and ecologically devastating, but unnecessary to achieve legitimate aims.”

Kyle Kajihiro, Program Director, American Friends Service Committee – Hawai’i Area Office, states: “The powerful Okinawan demand is clear: peace is a human right. The Okinawan people are an inspiration to our own movement. We stand with them in solidarity for peace across the Pacific.”

In a speech she gave in Stockholm, Japanese Canadian author Joy Kogawa paid tribute to Okinawa’s peace-loving traditional culture that honors the sanctity of life:

“There is a certain small island in the east, where the world’s longest living and intensely peaceable people live.

“My brother, a retired Episcopalian priest, was in Okinawa for a few years in the 1990’s. He told me that in 1815, Captain Basil Hall of the British navy steamed into Naha, Okinawa and was amazed at what he found. The story goes, that on his way back to England, he dropped in to the island of St. Helena and had a chat with Napoleon.

“’I have been to an island of peace,’ the captain reported. ‘The island has no soldiers and no weapons.’

“’No weapons? Oh, but there must be a few swords around,’ Napoleon remarked.

“’No. Even the swords have been embargoed by the king.’

“Napoleon, we’re told, was astonished. ‘No soldiers, no weapons, no swords! It must be heaven.’

“A unique culture of peace had developed in one tiny part of our warring planet…

“When Japan, that once warring nation, took over the kingdom, there was an entirely bloodless coup. No soldiers were found to help later with the invasion of Korea. A disobedient people, Japan concluded. A kingdom without soldiers was clearly impossible. Okinawa, with its history of peace, must surely have had a culture as close to heaven as this planet has managed. And perhaps therefore a special target for the forces of hate.”

Today our world stands at a crossroads between survival and self-destruction. We must transform from a world dominated by a culture of war into a world led by cooperation and nonviolent conflict resolution. Instead of forcing more unwanted military violence upon this peaceful island, the U.S. and Japan would be wise to model Okinawa’s democratic culture of life.

http://closethebase.org/

CONTACT: John Feffer, Institute for Policy Studies

johnf@ips-dc.org, 202-234-9382, cell: 510-282-8983

Text Fwd: Pentagon Builds Up Guam For Pacific Interventions

* Text fwd from Rick Rozoff, StopNATO on Jan. 3, 2009

MCOT English News( by Thai News Agency)
Kyodo News Agency
January 3, 2010
U.S. military eyes Guam as staging post to counter threats

-''Moving these forces to Guam would place them on the furthest forward element of sovereign U.S. territory in the Pacific, thereby maximizing their freedom of action.''

-The relocation and buildup cost, including expansion of infrastructure needed to maintain a permanent base for Marines and U.S. Army troops on Guam and Tinian, an island 160 kilometers to the northeast, is pegged at $12 billion.

-A U.S. Army ''Air and Missile Defense Task Force'' is also proposed for Guam to protect the island....Weapons emplacement sites would be constructed to accommodate the ''Terminal High Altitude Area Defense'' system, which is designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight.
_____________________________________________________________________

HAGATNA, Guam: The United States plans to fortify Guam, upgrading its military base on the island into a strategic staging post that would allow rapid access to potential flashpoints in the Pacific region.

More troops, including 9,182 Marines, army soldiers and their dependents from Okinawa, Japan, will be relocated to this island, while more than 9,000 transient troops, mainly from the navy's carrier strike group, will also be based here.

The ''overarching purpose'' of beefing up Guam as a military fortress is ''to provide mutual defense, deter aggression, and dissuade coercion in the Western Pacific Region, according to a draft impact report recently released by the U.S. Defense Department.

The proposed buildup would allow U.S. military forces to respond to regional threats and contingencies in a ''flexible'' and ''timely manner'' as they work to ''defend U.S., Japan and allied interests,'' the study says.

''Moving these forces to Guam would place them on the furthest forward element of sovereign U.S. territory in the Pacific, thereby maximizing their freedom of action,'' it says.

According to the report, the United States envisions Guam as a ''local command and control structure'' manned, equipped, trained, and sustained by a modern logistics infrastructure.

The relocation and buildup cost, including expansion of infrastructure needed to maintain a permanent base for Marines and U.S. Army troops on Guam and Tinian, an island 160 kilometers to the northeast, is pegged at $12 billion.

Japan has agreed to chip in $6.09 billion of the total.

The plan would entail ''increased operational activities,'' more frequent berthing by aircraft carriers and other warships, building aviation training ranges and upgrading of harbors, wharves and ports.

The existing Andersen Air Force Base on Guam would be expanded to include the air elements of the Marines. A new Marine base would be built ''right next door,'' the study says.

Various firing ranges would be built to meet the various training requirements of a larger military contingent.

The U.S. also plans to expand its live fire training ranges in Tinian where about 200 or more Marines could ''realistically train'' with their weapons and equipment ''without restrictions.'' Also on the drawing board is the building of a deep-draft wharf at Guam's Apra Harbor to support nuclear-powered aircraft carriers transiting through the area.

A U.S. Army ''Air and Missile Defense Task Force'' is also proposed for Guam to protect the island and U.S. forces there against the threat of harm from ballistic missile attacks.

Weapons emplacement sites would be constructed to accommodate the ''Terminal High Altitude Area Defense'' system, which is designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight.

Other emplacement sites would accommodate Patriot missiles, which are designed to strike threat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles just before impact.

The U.S military is beefing up its presence in Guam after U.S. allies in the Pacific - the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Singapore - turned down U.S. requests for permanent basing of U.S. troops on their soil.

Already concerns are being raised over plans to transform Guam into ''a multi-service military base.''
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Henry Simpson, general manager of Guam Racing Federation, said the U.S.
military aims to take his race track without even consulting him. ''They want to run over our land,'' he said.
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