Text Fw: Propaganda about PAC-3 from Pro-MD organization

*Text Fw from Bruce Gagnon on April 29, 2010

'Here is some propaganda about PAC-3 from pro-MD organization.'

Missile Defense Advocacy Allaince

Missile Defense In The News

Back To news Listing4/29/2010 - Oklahoma Pride

'Air Defense Soldiers with Riki Ellison
In front of Patriot Missile Defense Systems
Ft. Sill, Oklahoma'


Dear Members and Friends,

Last week MDAA had the honor to visit and interact with our nation's men and women in uniform at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School. This school teaches all current and soon to be deployed air defense soldiers who are stationed with the 13 Patriot battalions deployed in support of U.S. missile and air defense throughout the world; most prominently in the Middle East and East Asia. Fort Sill runs courses for Patriot operators and maintenance crews ranging in length from 8 to 30 weeks. The ADA school trains approximately 1,500 to 2,000 U.S. soldiers a year, as well as several hundred soldiers from Israel, Germany, Japan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and other allied nations that have Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems.

We strongly support and align with the Combat Commanders', General David Petraeus Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and Robert Willard Commander of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), view on the immediate missile threat and the need of more missile defense assets to protect our soldiers and allies serving in their respective areas of operation; the Middle East and the Far East. Each and every air defense soldier in their command goes through Fort Sill.

Major General David Halverson and Brigadier General Roger Mathews, who oversee the Air Defense Artillery School at Fort Sill, play a critical role in the future of missile defense as well as current war fighting capabilities as they represent the "users" of the systems to the U.S. Army General Staff. The current U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery doctrine is focused on defeating four major evolving threats:
- Rocket, Artillery & Mortars (Used against U.S. forces in Afghanistan & Iraq)
- Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Flying IED capability and UAVs)
- Cruise Missiles (over 70 nations as well as non state actors have them)
- Ballistic Missiles (over 30 nations and growing)

Currently the U.S. Army has four major air defensive systems deployed to address these evolving threats. In addition, the Army is looking to add four more new systems to supplement and replace the current systems in the years ahead. One of the new systems is a constellation of "blimp like" tethered battlefield sensors called JLENS and the creation of an integration system of all the shooters and sensors in the area to effectively defeat threats. Absolutely critical for protection and handling all threats is a "system of systems" which coordinates to use any sensor, any interceptor at any time. This "system of systems" is the most critical component of regional defense outlay.

The ADA school at Fort Sill is responsible for training soldiers to operate and maintain the four major Army Air Defense regional systems deployed today:

- The Patriot System is capable of defending against Short-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBM), aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs

- The Avenger System and Stingers are capable of defending against aircraft and UAVs

- The C-Ram System, (Naval Phalanxes and Sensors) is capable of providing early warning of rocket, artillery and mortar fire and engaging them in protection of Forward Operating Bases.

- The Sentinel is a portable, 360 degree radar providing an aerial picture of the battle space

The Patriot System is deployed as a battery that consists of four to five fire units. A battalion is made up of 4-5 batteries. Each fire unit includes down range and up range equipment. Down range equipment is made up of 8 launchers; each launcher is capable of holding four Patriot-2 Missiles or 16 Patriot-3 Missiles. The down range launchers are connected through fiber optic cable and/or electronics to the up range which consists of the 'Big Four'; the radar, the engagement control station, the communication relay, and the power plant. All of the Patriot both down and up range systems are self powered and mobile; they can be put on C-5, C-17, C-130, C-141 transport planes and have an initial capability to be deployed within 45 minutes.

One Patriot battery can defend an area of up to 20-25 square kilometers against short range, tactical ballistic missiles. 40 percent of current Patriot battalions are forward based in regional theaters such as Korea, Japan, Qatar and Bahrain.

In today's world, where the U.S. President has to make monumental decisions on Iran - to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear or to contain a nuclear Iran - a deployed robust missile defense plays a vital necessary factor in these monumental decisions.

On behalf of our membership throughout the nation, we give due respect and gratitude to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for its important part in making our nation and world a safer place.

Respectfully,


Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance

[Jeju Update] Gangjeong Villagers Suffer from Navy’s Too Much Law Accusation

* The accused villagers, Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo by the navy with the fine charges visited a lawyer's office in the City Of Jeju on April 29, 2010. Gangjeong Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun corresponded with them.

* Image source: Click HERE.

Click the image for larger view

이미지를 클릭하시면 화면이 확대됩니다.

The road is called as the road for peace. Mayor Kang says when he drives the car, returning back to the Gangjeong village from the Jeju city, “It was when there was the first summit meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev and ex-President Roh Tae-Woo during his term (1988 to 1993) in the Jeju Island. Roh, seeing the road at the time, wanted to widen it for the coming summit meeting. Since the road was broaden, it has been called as the Peace Road. But if the naval base is set-up, it will be called as the Military Road.”
______________________________________________________________

While the safety-prayer ceremony planned on April 28 by the naval base business committee has been postponed, because of the funeral of the dead soldiers due to sunken Cheonan ship on April 29 and strong repulsion of the Jeju region society (See the press interview on April 23, Catholic missal on April 26 and candle light & cultural event on April 27), the dual sufferings of the Gangjeong villagers because of the navy’s endless suffocating of the them with the accusation of such as interruption of the execution of the government business affairs and other business affairs with the fines and lawsuits have been continuously going on. (See the Seogwipo Daily Newspaper on April 16).

Six Gangjeong villagers and two activists have gotten the informer order from the Jeju local district court to pay the fines from 1million won (about $860) to 2million won(about $1,740) for the charges of interruption of the business affairs during the villagers’ struggle on Jan. 18 when the police and navy suddenly raid the village to build the ceremony site without notice.

The letter date of the informal order was April 23, a day after April 22, the planned but now postponed final judgment of the 2nd review trial on the confirmation on the cancellation of the approval disposal of the defense/military facilities business. The trial, by the request of the navy was postponed to May 27 when not the final judgment but the review starting again from the beginning will be done, much discouraging the villagers who had hoped the April 22 result would make the breakthrough because the judge had looked fair, understanding the villagers’ fury on the navy’s improper and forceful procedures to drive the naval base plan.

Later, it was known that the navy had the public announcement of the change regarding the land matter because it wanted to enforce the villagers’ lands therefore bringing the strong repulsion by the landowners who have opposed the naval plan and did the press interview on April 19, 2010.

The April 23 letter could be shown as part of the navy’s psychological strategy against the farmers and activists whose fatigues for near three year struggle have reached to the highest.

The charged people were supposed to request to have the formal trial in a week if they did not want to accept the informal order. And today, six villagers-Kang Hee-Woong (45, farming), Jung Kyung-Bo(44, inoccupation), Koh Young-Jin (50, farming), Yoon Chan-Beom (51, Vice-mayor of the Gangjeong village, farming), Jung Young-Hee (60, woman, farming), Moon Sang-Chul, 47, farming) and Prof. Yang Yoon(54, movie critic), the seven charged and mayor, Kang Dong-Kyun have ridden in the two cars and visited to the Jeju city to get the lawyer to have the trial instead paying the fines. The former three got the order of fines of 2million won while the latter four plus Mr. Go Yu Gi, Co-Executive Chairman of the Pan-Island Committee against the Jeju Military Base was also ordered to pay the fine of 1 million won.

If the charged people do not accept the order, they must be jailed-50,000 won for a day, so 20 to 40 days. Applying for the trial is one solution.

But how about the lawyers’ fee that is about 3,000,000won for one case if the lawyers are not benevolent and supporting them? How about the farming for which they have already been lack of hands? And how about the waste of time, knowing that to prepare the struggle for the critical period until the local election, before which the navy may suddenly raid the village again, is already urgent? Only a month left..

The suffering of the villagers and activists, suffocated by the endless media manipulation, systematic violence, quiet land enforcement attempt, and the unreasonable accusation of fines by the navy should be one point that one should not ignore in the whole struggle against the Jeju naval base plan..

Including the mayor Kang who says he has already gotten through more than 10 accusations from the navy and joked that, “I have become the kind of pseudo law scholar,” villagers and activists said today, “It is the navy’s dividing strategy. We should do something against it.”

[Jeju Update] [Translation] A Preliminary Candidate Shows Her Will to Oppose the Naval Base Plan

* Image source: Sisa Jeju
* Image source: Artist Kim in the Gangjeong village, Jeju Island on April 26, 2010. See also HERE. _____________________________________________________________________________
* Below is the arbitrary translation of the linked article.

서귀포 신문 Seogwipo Daily Newspaper

현애자 예비후보, "안전기원제 연기 당연"
Hyun Ae-Ja, Preliminary Candidate, “It Is Natural to Postpone the Safety-Prayer Ceremony.”
:"해군기지 추진 강행 강력 대응"
:“I Will Strongly Respond against the Enforcement of the Naval Base Drive.”
April 27, 2010
김승범 Kim Seung-Bum
ksb (at) seogwipo.co.kr


제주도지사 민주노동당 현애자 예비후보가 27일 제주해군기지 추진 강행에 대해 강력 대응하겠다고 피력했다.

Hyun Ae-Ja, the preliminary candidate for the Jeju Island governor, Democratic Labor Party expressed her will to strongly respond against the enforcement of the naval base drive on April 27.

현 후보는 “어제 군사기지 착공식 강행에 따른 천주교 미사와 촛불 문화제에 참석해 평화의 섬에 어떠한 군사기지도 용납할 수 없다는 강력한 입장을 밝혔고, 오늘도 강정에서 예정된 주민 집회에 참석하겠다”고 밝혔다.

Candidate, Hyun announced that, “Yesterday, joining the Catholic missal and candle light cultural event, upon the [naval base business committee’s] announcement of the enforcement of the ceremony for the setting the work on the naval base construction, I showed my strong position that I cannot allow any military base in the Island of Peace, and I will participate in the villagers’ rally planned in Gangjeong, today.”

이어 “중국 투자자와 관광객이 밀려드는 최근의 추세에서 한쪽으로는 중국을 봉쇄하기 위한 해군기지 건설을 강행하는 것은 제주 경제에 치명타가 될 것”이라고 우려했다.

Following it, she concerned about by saying that, “In the recent current when the Chinese investors and the tourists flood in, it will be the critical strike into the Jeju economy to enforce the naval base construction to surround China, in one-hand.”

또한 현 후보는 “앞으로 농축수산물 수출이나 관광 등 제주는 중국으로 먹고 살 것인데, 최근 천안함 사태 처럼 제주와 중국 경계에서 비슷한 사고가 생기고 양국관계에 미묘한 긴장이 조성되면 대규모 관광예약 취소와 투자회수 등 두바이처럼 하루아침에 제주경제가 파산에 이를 수 있다”고 말했다.

Candidate Hyun also said that, “While it is expected that the Jeju would make living by the export to China of the agriculture/ live stock/ fishing industry and/or tourists from China, if the similar accidents to the recent [sunken] Cheonan ship happens between the border of the Jeju and China, and subtle tension is formed in the relationship between the both countries, with mega size cancellation of the tourism reservation and recall of the investment, the Jeju economy can collapse in a day, such as in Dubai.”

그러면서 중국 국영언론인 신화통신이 제주 해군기지를 경고하는 보도를 했던 것을 되새겨야 한다고 충고했다.

Saying that, she advised that people should ruminate the Xinhua, the Chinese nation-managed press has warned against the Jeju naval base.

현 후보는 “도지사가 되면 제주 경제에 치명타이자 국가 안보에도 도움이 되지 않는 해군기지 건설을 즉각 백지화 할 것이며, 그동안 진행된 기반 시설은 강정 주민들이 주체가 되어 세계적 생태관광지로 사업내용이 전환되도록 하겠다”고 주장했다.

Candidate Hyun claimed that, “If I become the governor, I will immediately make blank of the Jeju naval base plan that is the critical target to the Jeju economy and does not help the national security, neither. I will also make effort that the navy foundation facilities that have been processed for the time could be transformed into the worldwide ecology tourism site, the Gangjeong villagers being the subjects for it.

이어 “28일 예정됐던 해군기지 안전기원제가 무기한 연기가 되었는데, 이것은 참으로 당연한 일이며 앞으로도 없어야 한다”고 환영했다.

Following that, she welcomed saying that, “The naval base safety-prayer ceremony , planned on 28th was postponed to no defined term. It is truly natural thing and [the ceremony] should not happen in the future ahead, as well.”

* Hyun Ae-Ja, a former member of the National Assembly, ROK has had the hunger strike against the Jeju naval base plan or 27 days, from June 7 to July 3, 2007.

Text Fw: Japan's First Overseas Base Aims At Expanding Military Boundaries

* Text informed by Stop NATO on April 29, 2010

Xinhua News Agency
April 28, 2010
Japan's first overseas base aimed at expanding military boundaries
Yu Zhixiao

BEIJING: Japan is building its first overseas military base in Africa's Djibouti
on the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to probe what waters its military can legally
reach farthest, analysts say.

In the name of better combating notorious Somali pirates, Japan is busy setting
up a 40-million-U.S.-dollar military base, which is expected to be completed
early next year.

Currently, some 150 Japanese soldiers battling piracy are stationed in a U.S.
base in Djibouti, which is at the southern end of the Red Sea.

The Japanese authorities say some 2,000 Japanese vessels, accounting for 10
percent of the world total, sail through the Gulf of Aden each year. Some 90
percent of Japanese exports rely on the crucial sea lane, which has been overrun
by rampant piracy.

On occasion, Japanese vessels have been hijacked by pirates.

The Japanese base, undeniably, would add momentum to the country's anti-piracy
efforts in the region.

But observers say that by establishing the base, the Japanese government is also
exploring how far it can go in increasing its military clout in the world.

According to the Peace Constitution ratified in 1947 after World War II, Japan,
to abstain from waging war, couldn't have a standing army and its warships
couldn't operate overseas.

But in October 2001, soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Japanese
lawmakers approved the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law, which allowed the
dispatch of Japanese warships and soldiers overseas.

Moreover, in July 2009, Japanese lawmakers passed the Anti-Piracy Law, which
provided Japanese self-defense forces with more mobility to use military power.
It also stipulated that the Japanese prime minister could send troops overseas
to conduct "anti-piracy" operations without approval of the parliament.

The base in Djibouti is Japan's latest effort to increase its military influence
in the world, analysts say.

Many countries are watching closely, and hope the base can play a constructive
role in cracking down on Somali pirates and contribute to regional peace and
stability.
===========================
Stop NATO
Blog site

Text Fw: U.S. Consolidates Military Network In Asia-Pacific Region

Stop NATO
U.S. Consolidates Military Network In Asia-Pacific Region
April 28, 2010
Rick Rozoff

The United States has six naval fleets and eleven aircraft carrier strike groups patrolling the world's oceans and seas. The U.S. Navy is as large as the world's next thirteen biggest navies combined [1].

Washington has as many aircraft carriers as all other nations together. Russia has one; China has none. The U.S. and its NATO allies - Britain (2), Italy (2), France (1) and Spain (1) - account for 17 of 22 in service in the world. Ten of the eleven American carriers are Nimitz class nuclear-powered supercarriers, substantially larger than most all non-U.S. ones. The U.S. Navy has all ten supercarriers in the world at the moment. [2]

U.S. aircraft carriers contain 70-80 planes and are available for deployment in all the world's oceans and most of its seas. They are escorted in their carrier groups by anti-air and anti-submarine warfare guided missile destroyers, anti-submarine warfare frigates, missile cruisers with long-range Tomahawks, and nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines. The U.S. also maintains between ten and twelve naval expeditionary strike groups which include amphibious assault ships and AH-1 Super Cobra attack helicopters in addition to destroyers, cruisers, frigates, attack submarines and P-3C Orion long-range anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft.

With the reestablishing of the Navy's Fourth Fleet - its area of responsibility includes Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea - two years ago after a 58-year hiatus, the U.S. has six fleets that can be dispatched to all five oceans.

The Seventh Fleet (there is no First Fleet), based in Japan, is the largest of U.S. forward-deployed fleets and consists of as many as 40–60 ships, 200-350 aircraft and 20,000-60,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel. Its area of responsibility takes in more than 50 million square miles of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Russia's Kuril Islands in the north to the Antarctic in the south, from the South China Sea to the Arabian Sea, South Africa to the Korean Peninsula, the Strait of Malacca to the Taiwan Strait.

When on the occasion of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize last December President Barack Obama referred to himself as the Commander-in-Chief of the world's sole military superpower he was not guilty of hyperbole if he was of hubris. His defense budget for next year is almost half as large as world military spending for 2008, the last year for which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has compiled figures.

The U.S. has mutual defense treaties with six nations in the Asia-Pacific area: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. The Pentagon has bases in Japan and South Korea, troops and base camps in the Philippines, satellite surveillance sites in Australia and the use of air bases in Thailand.

Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are included in the American global missile interceptor network with Patriot Advanced Capability-3 and ship-based Standard Missile-3 deployments in those four nations. Last December it was announced that the U.S. will supply Taiwan with 200 Patriot anti-ballistic missiles and the following month it was revealed that Washington will also provide Taiwan with eight frigates capable of being upgraded to fire Standard Missile-3 interceptors. [3]

MORE READING

Text Fw: Palau's Senate offers land for Futenma alternative

* Image source: same as the below link

PHOTO : Palau islands: territory on offer for base. [iStockphoto]

* Text informed by Koohan Paik through 'famoksaiyanfriends' list on April 28, 2010

Australia Network News
Palau's senate offers land for US Pacific base
Last Updated: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:54:00 +1000

Palau's Senate has asked President President Johnson Toribiong to offer the state of Angaur as an alternative location for the US Futenma air base in Okinawa, Japan.

The Marianas Variety reports that under the Compact of Free Association, the US military has the option to use lands in Palau.

The senators also noted that two Japanese politicians recently visited the CNMI to look at a site being considered by Japan as a likely relocation site for Futenma.

Okinawa residents are protesting at Japan's 2006 agreement to relocate the US base to a coastal part of the island.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama vowed to review the agreement but has struggled to find an alternative location.

Poster Fw: Full-Page Ad in the Washington Post for Okinawa

* Informed by Kyle Kajihiro on April 28, 2010

Click the image for larger view

이미지를 확대하시면 화면이 크게 보입니다.

"A full-page ad calling for the closure of the Futenma Marine Corps base and no base relocation within Okinawa prefecture has appeared in The Washington Post on April 28. This ad appears in the wake of the April 25 demonstration of nearly 100,000 Okinawans protesting the planned base relocation. "

For more info: See HERE .

[Jeju Update] Candle Light Event in Gangjeong Village, on April 27, 2010

___________________________________________________________________
Click the Images for the Larger Views.
이미지를 클릭하시면 화면이 확대됩니다.
___________________________________________________________________

1. The Candle Light and Cultural Event in the Gangjeong Village

About 200 villagers, members of the Pan-Island Committee against the Military Base and for the Realization of Peace, gathered in the Gangjeong Village Courtesy Hall, to hold the candle light and cultural event on April 27.

The naval base business committee has announced to have the safety-prayer ceremony on April 28 but delayed it to no defined term because of the funeral of the dead soldiers due to sunken Cheonan ship and strong repulsion of the Jeju region society. The April 27 event followed the Catholic missal in Gangjeong on April 26.

Banners installed outside the event room, Gangjeong Courtesy Hall.
: To Keep Gangjeong is to Keep Peace of the Jeju!
-Lawyers’ Meeting for the Democratic Society, Committee for the Research on the Matters of the USFK
: Immediately Withdraw the Naval Base that Ignores the Villagers’ Opinion!!!
-Gangjeong Village People’s Council
: The Naval Base [US Base] Will Bring Out the War.
The Victims Will Be the Jeju Island People.
-Jake Sully (*the hero of the movie, ‘Avatar')

For the Solidarity with the Okinawa for which 93,700 people gathered on April 25, the banner color is yellow. You can see the full coverage on Okinawa, HERE, HERE, and HERE .

_A banner of the parody of the movie poster was also hung. It says “The third work by the navy that pushes anything!,” “I want to return back to the Jeju Island’s peaceful period, 2000,” and “The 2nd April 3.” (design by artist Kim, Gangjeong village)
_____________________________________________________________________

2. The Life and Peace Village_Il-Gangjeong _ Is Alive.
The village Gangjeonng has long time been called the Il-Gangjeong, that means the Best Village in the Jeju Island for its ecology-excellent and beautiful landscape.

Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun speaks and encourages the Ganjeong villagers. The letter design is by artist Koh, Gangjeong village.
The people watched the 37 min. movie about Gangjeong. The movie was made by Yang Dong-Kyu, who has made the movie with the photo collections of Prof. Yoon Yong-Taek (in the above photo), Cheju(=Jeju) University, wose hometown is Gangjeong and has taken the photos of Gangjeong for years.
Many members of the Pan-Island Committee against the Military Base and for the Realization of Peace, also joined the event.

Secretary, Yoon Ho-Kyung, Gangjeong village, stands in front of the sound control machine.
Village women held the candles of peace.
A Grandfather and his grandchild are sitting together.
Beautiful handmade lamps of the various shapes were hung on the ceiling of the hall. ________________________________________________________________________

3. Wall Documents and Ground Letters

Big letters were written on the ground in front of the event hall. The letters say,
“In One Voice, Let Us Keep Gangjeong!”
_____________________________________________________________________

4. A Mural In Front of the Event Hall: No Jeju Naval Base! Beautiful Gangjeong as It is!

______________________________________________________________________

5. The Gangjeong stream watches the Pain of Gangjeong Village.

On the top of the hill, the navy’s ugly makeshift structures (right in the photo) have been set up since the police and navy raid in the village on Jan. 18, 2010.

The Gangjeong stream meets with the sea water. Sweet fishes come to the stream every May. Under the Beom Island in the back of the photo, soft coral habitats exist. If the naval base is constructed, the areas around it that have been designated by the UNESCO and South Korean government as the absolute preservation sites will be destroyed.

Tangerine trees are being removed in a site of the planned naval base area. Most of the landowners who have sold their lands to the navy are not the villagers but are the people who live out side the village, who sold their lands upon the threat and pressure of the navy. Among 103 landowners of Gangjeong, 63 landowners including the villagers and non-villagers oppose the naval base plan and have not sold their lands. Among 63 landowners, 40 are the villagers.

Long live the yellow flags of 'No Naval Base!'
____________________________________________________________________
6. Gangjeong is Not Only for the Human Beings!

Gangjeong is not only for the human beings. Artist Choi Byung-Soo has set up many sculptures that represented soft coral, shells, water etc. in 2007. The villagers have set up the tower around the sculptures with the stones named basalt peculiar in the Jeju Island. Small pots that contained villagers’ wishes are inside the stone towers. People who have opposed the naval base also put their names in the small plates and attached them around the tower. The yellow flag of ‘No, Naval Base’ is not forgotten.

The letters in the bottom of the stone tower say, 'Sea of Life and Peace, Goorumbee.'

Professor Yang loves the soft rocks with the various shapes that have been formed by the eruption of magma long time ago. He says how the rocks resemble some animal heads, human beings and Buddha.

Jeju Update] [Translation] The Safety-Prayer Ceremony combined with the Ceremony to Set Up the Naval Base, Postponed to No Defined Term

* Below is the arbitrary translation of the linked article

Jeju Sori
The Safety-Prayer Ceremony combined with the Ceremony to Set Up the Naval Base, Postponed to No Defined Term
: Base Business Committee Concerns about the Funeral of the Dead of the Sunken Cheonan Ship and Repulsion of the Jeju Society… Reports to the Chief of Naval Operation
April 27, 2010
Lee Seung-Rok, leerevol(at)naver.com

The Safety-Prayer combined with the ceremony to set up the Jeju naval base was postponed to no defined term.

According to the Jeju naval base business committee and business companies on April 27, they postponed the safety-prayer ceremony planned on April 28, the anniversary of the birth of the Choongmoogong, [ * Yi, soon-Shin, the most famous navy general in the 16th century in Korea, who saved the country from the invasion of the foreign country] to no defined term.

The naval base business committee delayed it to no defined term because of the funeral of the dead soldiers due to sunken Cheonan ship and strong repulsion of the Jeju region society
It was known that Ryu Zeup-Hee, the Director of Control of the Naval Base Business committee, visiting the Naval headquarter, Daejeon on 26th, reported to Kim Sung-Chan, chief of the naval operation, about the postponement of the safety-prayer ceremony

The construction Director, Daerim, who took the part of the planned construction of the Jeju naval base saying that, “The safety-prayer ceremony is to have the ritual on the defined date to finish the construction with no accidents,” told that, “We had been choosing the date but as [our move] was reported to the press, the date was not defined yet.”

The personnel in Samsung saying that, “The date for the safety-prayer was not defined yet,” announced that “We don’t exactly know when it will be done.”

The navy personnel saying that, ”In the beginning, we planned to have the safety-prayer ceremony, combined with the ceremony to set up the work on the construction, centered around the civilian companies on April 28th, but became to postpone,” told that, “It is my knowledge that [postponement] was reported to the naval headquarter.

Otherwise, following the announcement of the drive for the enforcement of the ceremony to set-up the construction on the naval base, the Catholic Jeju District is repulsing holding ‘the Missal for the Prayer of the Life & Peace” on 26th, and the Pan-Island Committee against the Jeju Naval Base and Gangjeong villagers are strongly repulsing against [the announced ceremony] holding the candle cultural event and rally.

* Please see HERE .

[Textx Fw] Solidarity Letter from Japan with Jeju

* Makiko Sato sending email to the South Korean embassy, Washington DC (consular_usa@mofat.go.kr) on April 28, 2010
___________________________________________________________________________
Dear someone concerned,
Please forward this to President.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear President Lee Myung-bak,

I would like to send you, as an ordinary citizen living in Japan, my opposition email against the plan to construct a naval base on Jeju, which is said to be promoted by the US administration as well in order to deploy MD systems to surround China.

If constructed, the naval base is going to inevitably intensify the bilateral relations between the north and the south of the Korean Peninsula, thus, putting East Asia in more dangerous situations, leaving it more hopeless for the seperated families on the peninsula to meet each others. I know all this situation does not need my poor explanation, for you must know precisely about it as President.

Then why do you dare to proceed to the planned construction, I wonder.

Why Korea has been kept seperated, I wonder more.

I was told when very young by a Korean guide on a cultural tour with my then colleagues to South Korea that the seperation was because of Japan's past annexation of Korea.

It was, for sure, and there is no excuse on Japan's side about it. But not any more now.

It has long been because of the US military policy, and there is no excuse for that, either, no matther how much propaganda there is both in SK and in Japan of ' threat by North Korea' or 'threat by China.'

I'm sure you know also about this better than I:

Many farmers on Jeju fled to Japan during the harsh oppression and killings towards them around '50s when SK was under the US administrative, colonial, rule.

Those on Jeju at that time wanted an integrated country, while the Cold War had already begun on the Korean Peninsula. So the US wanted to oppress the movement for independence from the US rule by Jeju villagers.

It is said the population of Jeju decreased to less than 30,000 in '57 from 280,000 in '45. The descendants of those who fled to Japan still live here, bearing discrimination by Japanese against them, as their older generations who well remembered the massacre on Jeju chose to stay, not going back to their homeland, for they were afraid of possible still harsher discrimination, even legal accusation against them.

In the prefectural rally in Okinawa on 25th this month against another US military base in Okinawa, all the invited speakers from Okinawa mentioned discrimination by both the US and Japanese governments toward Okinawa.

The same thing can be surely said about Jeju especially these days when the opposition by villagers on Jeju against the planned naval base quite echoes that by Okinawans against the US bases in Okinawa.

Jeju and Okinawa are brothers in their histories under the influence of the US, some people here say. People on Jeju and those in Okinawa have similarly suffered both discrimination by the mainlanders of their own country and the merciless US military policy toward them.

Why is Korea still separated? It is half of your people, your family over there in the north.

Do you want your country, which once existed in its histry as an integrated, peaceful kingdom, kept separated endlessly in the future due to the US military policy, while the leaders of the United States haven't seemed and won't seem to care about the pain of your people at all, regarding SK as just a huge US military base?

I must say now that the separation of you country has been kept by some Korean presidents as well as by the US military policy, but I imagine all the SK presidents so far after the war on the peninsula must have felt more or less of pain about it.

Please ask yourself the unsettled question ever and make efforts to make Korea integrated in peace by halting the ongoing naval base construction plan in the first place. Please order a halt.

I can't go to Jeju today to stand in the brave line against the construction,
but my wish and those of many people in Japan for peaceful Jeju are with Jeju people over there.

Please order a halt.

Makiko Sato

Text Fw: [famoksaiyanfriends] The Buildup Proponents Strike Back

* Text informed by Koohan Paik through [famoksaiyanfriends] on April 28, 2010

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i


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Commentary

BRINGING BALANCE TO GUAM BUILDUP DISCUSSION

By Jay R. Merrill
HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Marianas Business Journal, April 26, 2010) – Reading much of the national press, one gets the impression that most people on Guam are against the military buildup for one reason or another. The Draft Environmental Impact Study hearings seemed to uncover staunch public opposition to what is planned. The participants who voiced their concerns were passionate, young and for the most part articulate. It is not surprising that the Washington Post, Nation magazine and others have portrayed Guam as a community that believes it is being imposed upon and taken for granted. Such was most of what was heard at the hearings. The hearings were contentious and marked the emergence of a new social brand called "We are Guahan." The group has continued beyond the hearings, advocating vigorously for sustaining Guam’s environment, its culture and "way of life." They express sincere and passionate fears about the change the military buildup will bring. While it is hard to argue against sustaining the environment and the island’s culture, the national media gets it wrong when they portray Guamanians as opposed to the change the military buildup will bring. The fact is, if a survey were held today, a majority of Guamanians remains in favor of the military buildup. Most people are not afraid of the change that will come; they fear more what Guam will become without it.

That is why the evolution of a new social brand is refreshing and needed. The group is called Hita I Marianas, which, I am told, translates to "We are the Marianas." The group is trying to create greater balance in the public discussion about the buildup. It believes that as much must be discussed about how the community can benefit from the economic growth that is coming as is discussed about the challenges it may present. The benefits the military buildup will create will be opportunities, not dollars falling from the sky. Unless the community understands those benefits, prepares for them, and starts working now to insure their fruition, they just might pass us by. If so, what then? What alternative exists to the buildup that could create as many jobs, as much income, and help Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands finance the public infrastructural improvements required by both communities? At the moment, no one has an answer.

The face of Hita I Marianas is retired Army Command Master Sgt. Ben Palacios, from Saipan wanting to start a business, concerned about the future of the region’s economy. It is also Adam Tydingco, soon to graduate from university in California wanting to come home to a career in Guam. The group believes more has to be focused on making those kinds of dreams a reality. The discussion should be about both Guam and the NMI, as the buildup will affect the entire region. There should be more discussion about connecting local businesses and off-island concerns to work together to create jobs. Hita I Marianas wants the public to learn more about how the military and the community can work together to forge a coexistence that can make the region a better place to live and work.

The group is forming; it is soliciting others to join in. It is holding a conference in San Diego to inform businesses on the mainland that the people of the region are looking for investors interested in the long term. The conference is about informing those thinking of coming to the region about long-term opportunities that exist and are emerging. It also provides a chance for U.S. firms to learn how to partner with local firms and with the community in ways that will be more efficient and will improve the region. The group’s website can be found at www.marianasbuildup.com. It is worth checking out.

Marianas Business Journal
Copyright © 2009 Glimpses of Guam Inc., All Rights Reserved


Jay R. Merrill is chairman of Market Research & Development Inc.

Text Fw: South Korea Takes Over U.S.-Led Horn Of Africa Warship Group

* Text informed by STOP NATO on April 26, 2010

Stars and Stripes
April 27, 2010
South Korea takes Task Force 151 helm


The South Korean navy has assumed command of Combined Task Force 151, the international group of military personnel conducting counterpiracy operations off the eastern coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, officials stated in a news release.

Rear Adm. Boem-rim Lee took command Wednesday. He replaces Rear Adm. Bernard Miranda, of the Singapore navy, who commanded the task force since January, according to a Combined Maritime Forces news release.

The U.S. Navy created the task force in January 2009 to counter piracy of commercial vessels and fishing boats in the regional waters.

The European Union and NATO operate similar maritime patrols in the region, as do nations that deploy ships independent of the task forces, including China, India, Japan and Russia.
===========================
Stop NATO

Blog site:

Text Fw: Japanese Military Joins U.S. And NATO In Horn Of Africa

Japanese Military Joins U.S. And NATO In Horn Of Africa
Rick Rozoff
April 25, 2010


Japanese navy commander Keizo Kitagawa recently spoke with Agence France-Presse and disclosed that his nation was opening its first overseas military base – at any rate since the Second World War – in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

Kitagawa is assigned to the Plans and Policy Section of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as his nation’s navy is called, and is in charge of the deployment.

AFP quoted the Japanese officer as stressing the unprecedented nature of the development: “This will be the only Japanese base outside our country and the first in Africa.” [1]

The military installation is to cost $40 million and is expected to accommodate Japanese troops early next year.

Djibouti rests at the confluence of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, across from strife-torn Yemen, and borders the northwest corner of equally conflict-ridden Somalia. The narrow span of water separating it from Yemen is the gateway for all maritime traffic passing between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

Naval deployments to the Gulf of Aden by several major nations and alliances – the U.S., NATO, the European Union, China, Russia, India, Iran and others – are designed to insure the free passage of commercial vessels through the above route and to protect United Nations World Food Programme deliveries to Somalia. The second concern in particular led to the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1838 in 2008, which requests that nations with military vessels in the area suppress the capture of ships and their crews for ransom. An anti-piracy mission.

However, the above-mentioned Japanese naval officer was more direct in identifying his nation’s interest in establishing a military base in Africa. Kitagawa also told AFP that “We are deploying here to fight piracy and for our self-defence. Japan is a maritime nation and the increase in piracy in the Gulf of Aden through which 20,000 vessels sail every year is worrying.”

The term self-defense is not fortuitous. Article 9 of the 1947 Japanese Constitution explicitly affirms that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”

As such, in the post-World War Two period the nation’s armed forces have been called the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).

The Constitution also expressly prohibits the deployment of military forces outside of Japan, stating that it is “not permissible constitutionally to dispatch armed troops to foreign territorial land, sea and airspace for the purpose of using military power, as a so-called overseas deployment of troops, since it generally exceeds the minimum level necessary for self-defense.”

For MORE READING

[Text Fw] Solidarity Letter from Hawaii With Okinawa

* Text and images From Kyle Kajihiro on April 26, 2010

Aloha Kakou

Yesterday, in solidarity with the 90,000+ Okinawans who rallied against U.S. military bases in Okinawa, the Hawai'i-Okinawa Alliance (HOA), the American Friends Service Committee - Hawai'i and DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina organized a vigil in front of the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu.

Approximately 40 people held signs and candles in front of the Japanese Consulate. Ukwanshin Kabudan, Nakem Youth, Fight for Guahan, Veterans for Peace and Urban Babaylan were some of the groups represented.

People spoke about the impacts of U.S. military bases in Hawai'i, Guam, Korea, and the Philippines and the need for our peoples to be in solidarity for the removal of these bases of war. Wearing a "Deji-wajiwaji!" HOA tee-shirt, World War II Veteran Don Matsuda called for the bases to get out of Okinawa. Kisha Borja-Kicho'cho' with a contingent from Fight for Guahan expressed solidarity from the Chamoru community in their struggle to resist the U.S. military base expansion on her home island. Many speakers expressed a desire to remove the oppressive military bases and make the Pacific a zone of peace. Several people came after seeing coverage of the event on the television. For some it was their first demonstration.

Norman Kaneshiro sensei and several young Okinawan musicians sang traditional Okinawan songs. We closed the circle with singing "Hana" (Kina Shoukichi's famous peace anthem).

Then we tied yellow ribbons with messages of peace written on them on the consulate fence.

The event was covered on KITV and KHNL television stations, and there reporters for the Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimpo covered the event.

Attached are some photos by Jamie Oshiro. More detailed report and photos to come.

In solidarity
Kyle Kajihiro

[Jeju Update] Catholic Fathers Hold the Peace Missal against the Naval Base in Gangjeong on April 26

* This site is in process...Please come by later.

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Thanks, Bruce Gagnon and Ten Thousand Things for Spreading the News.

See HERE and HERE.

브루스 개그논과 '만개의 것' 블로그, 소식을 다른 사람들에게 전해 주셔 감사합니다.

여기와 여기를 보세요.

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See the Korean articles 관련 기사들

Seogwipo Daily Newspaper, Sisa Jeju , Jeju Sori

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* Video source: Artist Kim living in the Gangjeong village, Jeju Island, April 26, 2010 (Video URL)
Mayor Kang Dong-Kyun speaks after the Fathers' Catholic Missal in the Gangjeong village, Jeju Island on April 26, 2010.

* Image source: Boreum Doraegi, Jeju Island

Catholic Fathers giving the missal for the peace in the Gangjeong village and against the Jeju naval base plan, in the outside near the Joongduk coast where the naval base is planned.

* Image source: No Base Stories of Korea

Gangjeong villagers holding the flags of 'No naval Base' around the missal site during the rainy
and windy evening.

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* The below image credits belong to Boreum Doraegi, Jeju Island

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* The below image credits belong to the artst Kim, Gangjeong village, Jeju Island

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* Image source: Artist Kim living in the Gangjeong village, Jeju Island

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