普天間移設 展望なき窮余の政府最終案

The Yomiuri Shimbun (May. 14, 2010)
Govt's Futenma plan a hopeless hodgepodge
普天間移設　展望なき窮余の政府最終案（5月13日付・読売社説）

The government has at last decided on its final plan concerning the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture.
　米軍普天間飛行場の移設問題に関する政府の最終案が、ようやく固まった。

However, the plan is fraught with inconsistencies and problems, and has many fluid elements. We harbor grave doubts about whether the government plan will actually get off the ground.
様々な矛盾と課題を抱えており、流動的な要素も多い。果たして実現できるのか、大いに疑問だ。

The main pillar of this plan is a twist on the plan that has already been agreed to. Instead of constructing a V-shaped pair of runways on land reclaimed from the sea off the marines' Camp Schwab in the Henoko district of Nago in the prefecture, the government wants to build an alternative runway on a so-called quick installation platform. Some helicopter troops and training exercises would be transferred to Tokunoshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture.
　最終案の柱は、沖縄県名護市辺野古の沿岸部を埋め立てる現行計画を修正し、杭(くい)打ち桟橋方式で代替施設を建設する計画だ。鹿児島県・徳之島には、航空部隊の一部または訓練を移転する。

The government will study the possibility of transferring flight training conducted at Futenma Air Station and Kadena Air Base to several other areas in the country. The United States could also be asked to return shooting and bombing ranges on two small islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
　普天間飛行場や嘉手納基地での飛行訓練を各地に分散移転したり、沖縄の米軍射爆撃場の返還を求めたりすることも検討する。

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Base to stay in Okinawa

The plan, for all intents and purposes, will relocate Futenma Air Station's functions within Okinawa Prefecture. However, this has been fiercely opposed by the people of Nago, three towns on Tokunoshima and the Social Democratic Party, a partner in the Democratic Party of Japan-led coalition government.
　実質的には県内移設であり、移設先の名護市や徳之島３町のほか社民党は強く反対している。

The Okinawa prefectural government, which initially approved the relocation within the prefecture as agreed to under the existing plan, has changed tack and is demanding the base's functions be shifted outside the prefecture.
県内移設を容認していた沖縄県も、県外移設の立場に転じた。

The bottom line is that the final plan has cobbled together a mishmash of last-ditch ideas that might lesson the burdens on affected communities, in a bid to appease all the parties involved in the matter.
　結局、考えられる限りの地元負担軽減策を並べて、関係者の反発を和らげようという、窮余のつじつま合わせの最終案となった。

Although some training exercises that had been conducted at Kadena Air Base have been transferred elsewhere, the number of flights has reportedly remained unchanged. Furthermore, there is little likelihood that the United States will return the shooting and bombing ranges to Japan anytime soon.
　だが、嘉手納基地の訓練移転は一部で実施済みだが、飛行回数は減っていないとされる。米軍施設の返還も、米側がすぐに応じる見通しは立っていない。

The absence of a "control tower" overseeing the relocation has resulted in the administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama dealing with all the parties involved in an exceedingly ad hoc manner. The government has ended up trumpeting please-all patchy ideas and facing opposition from all sides. Its handling of the issue has been extremely inept.
　司令塔が不在のまま、様々な関係者に場当たり的に配慮するあまり、八方美人的なつぎはぎの案となり、すべての関係者の反対にあう。まさに拙劣な手法だ。

The whole point of the relocation was to reduce the burden shouldered by Okinawa Prefecture in hosting U.S. forces, while maintaining their deterrent. If the Hatoyama administration is sincere in achieving this objective, it should not reject the option of admitting it has strayed off course and returning to the original plan.
　米軍の抑止力を維持しつつ、沖縄の負担を軽減する。その移設問題の原点を踏まえれば、迷走の過ちを認め、現行計画に戻る選択肢を排除すべきではあるまい。

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Deadline must be met

Several Cabinet members recently suggested a conclusion to the issue should be "put off" until after May 31, a self-imposed deadline by Hatoyama that he called a "promise made to the people." However, this would be tantamount to shifting the goal during a soccer match and would be unlikely to sit well with the public.
　一方、首相が「国民への約束」と語る月内の問題決着について、閣僚からは「先送り」発言が相次いでいる。サッカーの試合中にゴールを移動させるような対応であり、理解は得られまい。

Hatoyama holds supreme responsibility for settling this issue. Even with only half a month left before the end of May, the prime minister has insisted almost daily that he would find a solution acceptable to Okinawa, the United States and the ruling coalition parties.
　最高責任者の鳩山首相は、期限までほぼ半月となった今も、毎日のように、沖縄や米国、連立与党の合意を月内に得る、と言い続けている。

If Hatoyama fails to achieve this, criticism of the inconsistencies in his deeds and words will only grow shriller. Hatoyama's political responsibility as prime minister is grave.
　これでも実現できない場合、鳩山首相の言行不一致に対する批判は一段と高まろう。首相の政治責任は重大である。

Needless to say, the Futenma relocation is not the be-all and end-all of Japan-U.S. ties. However, any delay in settling this issue could have an immense impact on other aspects of the bilateral relationship.
　無論、普天間問題が日米関係のすべてではないとしても、この問題が先送りされた場合の各方面への影響は甚大だ。

Particularly disconcerting is the fact that there is no sign all parties with a stake in the matter will agree to the final plan.
とりわけ深刻なのは、今の最終案で関係者が合意できる展望がないことだ。

In that case, the risk of accidents and the noise problems that the Futenma base poses to densely populated neighboring areas will remain, while the historic burden-lessening transfer of 8,000 U.S. marines to Guam could be stalled.
　その際は、事故の危険や騒音問題を抱える普天間飛行場の現状が固定化するうえ、海兵隊８０００人のグアム移転などの歴史的な負担軽減策が頓挫しかねない。

Once again, it will be Hatoyama who is to blame if that happens.
その責任もまた、鳩山首相にある。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 13, 2010)
（2010年5月13日01時14分 読売新聞）