US Carrier to Face Huge Protests in Japan

[unhappycamper]

US Carrier to Face Huge Protests in Japan
September 22, 2008
Associated Press

TOKYO - Activists prepared large protests to meet the arrival of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which is to dock just south of Tokyo on Thursday to become the first nuclear-powered carrier with its home port in Japan.

Organizers said Monday they planned to hold demonstrations throughout the day, both onshore and on boats in the harbor around the U.S. naval base at Yokosuka, where the George Washington is to arrive.

"Having a nuclear-powered carrier based in Yokosuka is like having a nuclear power plant built right next to our capital," said Masahiko Goto, a local lawyer who has led opposition to the deployment.

Goto said a few hundred people were expected to join in protests as the ship arrives, and another 2,000 were to gather near the base that night.

The George Washington, which can carry a crew of up to 5,600 and 70 aircraft, will replace the USS Kitty Hawk as the U.S. Navy's only permanently forward-based aircraft carrier.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/September-2008/us-carrier-to-face-huge-protests-in-japan.html?col=1186032311124