Okinawa: “Windshield Falls from F-15” Would Have Been a Serious Incident in a Civilian Area

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/News/234570/windshield-falls-from-f-15-would-have-been-a-serious-incident-in-a-civilian-area/


“Windshield Falls from F-15” Would Have Been a Serious Incident in a Civilian Area
Okinawa Times, Japan
Translated By Taylor Cazella
6 March 2014
Edited by Brent Landon

An F-15 belonging to the U.S. military’s Kaneda airfield dropped its windshield during training maneuvers. It appears the windshield fell over the water in training airspace to the north, and no damage was caused to any ships. But if you think about what would happen if it had fallen in a civilian area, it sends a shiver down the spine.

Since the time when Okinawa was returned to Japanese control in 1972 up until the end of 2012, cases of parts falling from U.S. military vessels have occurred 43 times. By that count, it occurs nearly every year. As for the F-15 fighter, restricting it exclusively to cases in which only the windshield has fallen would put the total at four times since the planes were first deployed by Kaneda airfield in 1979; including other parts would raise the total to 13 times.

The windshield, which covers the cockpit, is made of clear, reinforced acrylic glass. The photo that appeared on the front page of this paper on Mar. 5 is still vividly in mind: the windshield blown off and the figure of a pilot flying, uncovered, over the skies of Kaneda.

As it is a U.S. military base within a densely populated residential area, Futenma airfield will be closed up. However, we cannot forget the fact that the very same danger exists around the edges of Kaneda as well. As for previous cases of a windshield falling, it has occurred twice within the base itself, and one other time, as with this instance, it occurred over open water; and yet, even considering things from that point of view, the concern that the same thing could happen in a civilian area is by no means unreasonable.

[Aliceoh]

1. Is Japan really an international troublemaker?

In a long-term perspectives, Japan, especially Shinzo Abe, is a big obstacle to the US strategy, I think.

Many things have changed since Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in December 2013. As you know, Abe's pro-rightist stance caused to make the crack more widely between Japan and Korea and to sharpen the conflicts between Japan and China. Both Korea and Japan are our allies. To keep our strategy to go on a track steadily, it is most necessary for us to go along with them and to cooperate with them tightly. By the way, now the alliance frame is wobbling because of Japan's egoism.

In addition, the relation with China is also going to jar more loudly than ever. In short, everything is entangled because of PM Abe syndrome.

At last, Center for a New American Security, a key political and deplomatic think-tank for Obama government, issued a report and handed it to the Office of Prime Minister Abe. It contained a suggestion that Japan should stop distorting history of its past including the matter of comfort women. In consideration of the status of CNAS, it's surely a warning to Abe cabinet's extream right walking, I think. In fact, many high officials in the Obama government expressed disappointment over Abe's shrine visit. They might think that the aggravation of territorial and historical dispute by Abe's cabinet will lead to disrupting Washington's 'pivot to Asia' strategy. Now their patience is going to reach its limit. Therefore, they let the Center write a report to Japan government.

In this regard, Japan should listen to US's advice sincerely. If Japan ignore it and go on keeping a nationalistic stride, the US will turn its back to Japan in a near future. Then, eventuaslly Japan must be treated as an outcast in international society.