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China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. considers mandatory evacuations in Yokosuka
2011-03-24
From March 22nd: if true, it has implications for the U.S. Navy's long-standing forward basing of a carrier task force in Japan. It may be a prudent measure to ensure that military dependents and less-essential personnel are kept safe, or it may an uncharacteristic 'Brave Sir Robin' move at a time when we need to show quiet resolve.
Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. military is considering the mandatory evacuation of thousands of American troops and their families in Japan out of concern over rising radiation levels, a senior defense official tells CNN.

The official says there are no discussions to evacuate all U.S. troops across the country. The talks have focused exclusively on U.S. troops in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo, the official said. Yokosuka is home to America's largest naval base in Japan. The military is monitoring radiation levels on a constant basis.

As of Monday, the U.S. Navy had no more warships in port at the base. The aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which had been undergoing maintenance in Yokosuka, left port Monday to get away from the plume of radioactive particles that could blow over the base. Because it left port with a much smaller than normal crew, the George Washington will not take part in the Japanese relief effort.
The GW essentially skedaddled. That's a serious effort to get the carrier out of maintenance and with whatever crew could be rounded up, get her to sea. Just a precaution or are the radiation readings in Tokyo high enough to be alarming?
The official said the talks originated with Pacific Command, the military authority that directly oversees U.S. troops in the region, but "discussions have since taken place here in Washington as well."

A second defense official at Pacific Command, who would not go on the record for the same reason, would only say they "are monitoring the situation, and will continue to do so and keep our families informed. Prudent planning always happens."

An official statement released by U.S. Pacific Command, which oversees all military operations in Asia, states that the only evacuations being performed now are under State Department guidelines, which calls for voluntary evacuations of military family members, paid for by the U.S. government.

A flight carrying 154 military family members left Japan Monday, flying into Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, according to Lt. Commander Bill Lewis, a spokesman for U.S. Northern Command. That followed a flight that departed Saturday with 230 people on board.
Is this strictly a short-term safety precaution or does it pre-sage a longer term shuffle of our assets in the region? It looks a little panicky even as it may be little more than reassuring dependents who don't want to run any risks.
Posted by:Steve White

#4  Yokosuka is quite a bit farther from Fukushima than the Nevada Test Site (home to 1021 nuclear weapons tests, including 100 conducted above-ground) is from Las Vegas.

Does the US military still employ engineers & scientists or have we switched completely to political officers?
Posted by: AzCat   2011-03-24 13:14  

#3  WORLD NEWS > [Internat Commerce] SHIPS MAY AVOID TOKYO PORT OVER RADIATION CONCERNS - INDUSTRY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2011-03-24 03:19  

#2  Once begun, the rollback of the "WEAK/DECLINING" USA from Asia-Pacific towards CONUS + Washington DC SURRENDER = DESTRUCTION? will be hard to reverse widout plenty of diligence + ultimately bloodshed.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2011-03-24 01:17  

#1  Yeeep.

Its gonna take a while for Nippon to effectively stabilize Fukushima Reax 1-4, espec #3 + #4. As illustrated by today's AM Net News, anything can still go [horribly?]wrong at Fukushima despite progress made.

OTOH, I've been telling various Guam locals that IMO 2011-2020/2025 US EXISTENTIAL POWER + INFLUENCE in Asia-Pacific, + indeed the World, will be challenged on a scale not seen by AMers since WW2 or prior, or perhaps vee the Cuban Missle Crisis, ESPEC IFF RADICAL ISLAM SUCCESSFULLY GOES NUCLEAR IN 2012 OR SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THIS TIME PERIOD MAY BE THE ONLY TIME GUAM + CNMI HAVE TO ATTEMPT + ACHIEVE REALISTIC FORMAL INTEGRATION + RE-UNIFICATION AS A SINGLE POLITY BEFORE EVENTS OVERWHELM THE US-WORLD.

The ABOVE + 9-11 + WAR-FOR-PRO-US-VERSUS-ANTI-US OWG-NWO, ETC. is why I tell Guam Locals that POLITICAL STATUS = SELF-DETERMINATION may be the single most important issue for the People of Guam + CNMI despite any rhetoric, appearances to the contrary. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, AS THE CHANCE MAY NOT COME AGAIN FOR A LONG LONG L-O-N-G TIME = SEVERAL [many?]GENERATIONS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2011-03-24 01:12  

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