City council votes down public call for vote on USS George Washington

[unhappycamper]

City council votes down public call for vote on USS George Washington
By Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, May 18, 2008

YOKOSUKA, Japan — A second try at putting citizen acceptance of the USS George Washington to a vote of the people resoundingly failed Friday.

The Yokosuka City Council voted down putting the referendum to a vote 33 to 8 — garnering two more opposition votes than a similar referendum measure did in February 2007.

A citizens’ group collected more than 40,000 signatures calling for a referendum to get residents’ input on whether they approve or disapprove of the deployment of the George Washington, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier slated to replace the conventionally powered USS Kitty Hawk in Yokosuka this August.

The group also called for votes on whether the city has given enough explanation on the nuclear carrier’s deployment.

The group’s leader called Friday’s outcome "extremely regrettable."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54887



uhc comment: Well, shit. The US Congress has given * a complete pass on occupation funding since 2004. After 4 1/2 years of pouring money into a shithole, Democrats (finally) stopped more occupation funding for at least a week. It takes a while.

[Jack Bone]

1. How this plays out will be interesting..

thanx for keeping us informed!

[Angleae]

2. Honestly I don't understand their problem

It's not as though the carrier will be carrying nuclear weapons, it's just nuclear powered (2 reactors). Japan has reactors all over the country.